The Darkness and Light
by Qu1ntus5
Summary: Dakar Solonis. He's a mage who's wandered around the world. He's known as The Darkness and Light Master, however he's not known that much in public. Many mysteries are yet to be solved with this powerful mage. He still tries to determine himself as time passes. Still however, just who is he? OCxHarem
1. Pre-Arc 1: Enter Dakar Solonis!

**AN: Here I go again. This is now my fourth OC-centric story and my first Fairy Tail fanfic. And I just keep thinking up these. This spurred on as I watched Fairy Tail again, making up my own OC for the anime. This is pretty much just the prelude to the entire story, with two characters appearing early before their official manga/anime appearance. They won't be appearing again before that arc, but it'll be good in due time. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Pre-Arc – Enter Dakar Solonis!

Galuna Island. It was the resting place of one Ul Milkovich and the demon Deliora. The demon is now dead, thanks in large part to the efforts of Ul, and the efforts of Team Natsu. As for the former Wizard Saint, on the other hand…

"Ul… you are such a stupid idiot. You used Iced Shell to defeat Deliora… at least the ice from that spell is ever-frozen, so there's hope for you…" He trailed off as he realized…

He facepalmed afterwards at his statement, his gray eyes frustratingly looking around at the empty space around him.

"Right, of course, you're ice. Not to mention, you're scattered around here! Thanks for nothing, whoever did this… oh right… them."

Standing on the area where the frozen demon used to be is a twenty year old looking man. He is wearing a coat that has black and white equally split in the middle, with the left black and the other white. Likewise, he wears an undershirt that also has black and white split from the middle, with the left also black and the other also white. He wears very light black-tinted eyeglasses with white frames. He also wears a regular pair of blue jeans, and his footwear consists of simple black shoes.

He sighed, turning the opposite direction.

"Well… there's no use in sulking around. I better find your scattered 'remains'."

He'd later go on to find them, every single little piece of Iced Shell he'd encounter.

' _Luckily, the ice from Iced Shell looks different from regular ice and Ice-Make ice. It's very distinguishable, so I should have no problem. Oh, here's one! And a few more others!'_ He had thought as he found a few more.

Eventually, he returned to the spot he stood on, a pouch now on his side, filled with the ice pieces he found all around the cave. He looked at the old spot in abject sadness. Then his expression turns to determination.

' _In time, Ul. In time.'_

He then left the cave and the island altogether.

* * *

He looked on at the skies and oceans ahead, waiting for the boat to land in Fiore. He wondered what will await him soon enough, especially since he had heard some recent activity from two guilds on his watch: Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. He pushes them away for now, choosing to bask in the view of the ocean.

' _It's so peaceful… sometimes I'd like to just stay. However, I can't just ignore it all.'_

Arriving on the port in Fiore, he walked out of the docks. He spotted a nearby bar. He entered and saw only few people in. He proceeded to sit down on one of the seats near the counter. A barmaid in her early twenties then comes over to him.

"What would you like?" She asked smiling at the man. He looked back and smiled as well.

"Whiskey, please." He simply said. She nodded.

"I'll be right back." She then left to deal with the other customers. It was then that he looked around and saw a job board.

' _Should I? It's been quite some time.'_ He thought, contemplating. He got lost on his thoughts on the previous jobs he took. It wasn't until he heard the clinking of glasses on the counter that brought him out of his reverie and back to reality. He looked back and saw the barmaid pouring whiskey into the glass in front of him.

"Here you go, mister. A glass of whiskey and a glass of water." She finished. He now realized that he has two glasses, not one.

"I didn't order any water." The barmaid only giggled and smiled at him.

"I know. Just to keep you here a bit longer, as I notice that you looked at that job board for a while now. We don't get mages here usually because we don't have the drinks they need, so what brings you here?"

"How'd you know I was a mage?

"I'm not usually a mage for battle, but I can see an aura of magic around you. I'll tell you this, only so few people have thatq ability. And it's in your clothes."

He chuckled. "Interesting. Anyways, this was the closest bar I saw, and I freaking need a drink. I don't usually drink often, heck I probably only drink once a month, but I just need one right now."

He then sipped some of the whiskey. He looked around again and he noticed that he was the only patron left in the bar.

"Not much business here, I noticed."

"Well, it's the early morning. We don't usually get customers this early."

"Then again, that is true."

"You ever thought about home? I've noticed in your movements and posture that you keep to yourself, but… have you?"

"Well, it's been sometime now that I've had a home. I've been traversing the world for a while now. I don't stay in one place for long."

"That's rather sad. You don't have people to look forward to when you go back?"

He laughed a bit at that. "Unfortunately, they're all gone. But that's okay. It takes a while, but I've gotten used to it." He finished the rest of his whiskey and took the glass of water. He stood up.

"If I may? I'll just go and see what request I can take."

She nodded. "Sure."

As he checked the requests on the job board, he noticed three people walk in. He paid them no mind as he continued looking at the requests, choosing which one to take. He has been an independent mage for so long, sometimes he wondered what would it be like if he joined a guild. At the same time, he wondered if joining one would still be something to him.

He then took one.

' _Ah, good. I found just the job request I need.'_ He thought as he looked it over. It was perfect. He turns around and sees the same three men, one of them holding the barmaid hostage, and the other two with fire on their hands. The barmaid had a look of panic and fear.

"Please… help me…" She cried out.

He looked at them with slight contempt. Calmly, he spoke, "Please let go of the innocent barmaid. She has nothing to do with what you're going to do."

"Yeah? We're from the dark guild Singed Flame!" The one holding the barmaid said, and as if to make a point, one of his hands peered close to the barmaid's face, sparking with ember.

"What's one mage gonna do against the three of us?" They all then laughed at him.

The flaming hand edged closer and closer to the barmaid. In so much fear of the danger she was in, she yelled out, "HELP! PLEASE!"

She then sensed the man's aura turn cold. Very cold. It somewhat unnerved her. His calm looking gray eyes turned intense.

"So be it."

All the lights went off, and so did their flames.

"What the-?! I can't see!"

"If you think this is your way of threatening us, then you have no luck pal!"

The man sighed. "Did you really think I was threatening you?" He said behind the mage holding the woman hostage.

"I wasn't." He sent a chop on the man's neck and a hard kick to his side. He drops the barmaid, and he sends a punch to the mage, which he dodged easily.

"Go. Hide somewhere. Find a safe spot." He whispered to the barmaid. In the darkness, she nodded and backed away.

"I can see through this darkness. You have no chance." He wrings his arm around his neck, and he uses his other arm to use a spell.

"Light: Intensifying Burn!" He slams his hand down on his opponent's chest. The hand glows hot white, and the man screams until he fades to unconsciousness.

The lights return, only, the mysterious mage and the barmaid were nowhere to be found. Only the two conscious dark mages were present.

"Hey, where are those two?"

"I don't know! Hey! There's… oh shit."

They saw their other fellow mage. Only, there were white burn marks all over his body. He's only unconscious, though.

"What did he do to you?"

They tried to touch the burn marks. However, they felt the extreme heat emanating from them. They recoiled their hands and rubbed them to ease the pain.

The lights went off again.

"Wha-? Show yourself!"

The hidden mage smirked. He stood behind the unsuspecting wizard.

"Behind you."

He looked behind and got punched in the face.

"Darkness: Nightmarish Bind!"

Darkness materialized from the absence of the lights and took hold of his opponent. It covered his face and legs. He then screamed even louder than the previous until he, as well, faded to unconsciousness.

The darkness returns to the mage. _'Cuttlefish? Really?'_ He was surprised at his fear, and also sweatdropped at that.

The lights returned to normal. The remaining dark mage was now very terrified, cowering before him. He throws the second unconscious mage to him.

"I can still do even worse. Leave with your two unconscious friends. Don't ever return here. Ever." He frigidly said, his tone giving off an air of finality. He vigorously nods in fear and takes the unconscious bodies of his friends. He then left.

With the short confrontation finished, the mysterious wizard turns back to the counter.

"You can come out now." He said aloud. Out from underneath the counter was the barmaid. She was slightly shaking as she felt his aura spike.

"I'm terribly sorry about that, miss. It was best that you don't get in the crossfire, so I had you hide somewhere."

"No, it's rather alright, mister. But I felt your aura shift and spike. When you entered my bar, it was calm, serene, cool, and even a bit warm. And then when they threatened me, I felt it go cold. _Very_ cold. I'm alright now, but… just who are you?"

Before he spoke, he took out the chosen job request:

A-Class Job Request

Destroy Singed Flame!

Location: Nimbraki City

Requested by: Former Mayor of Nimbraki City

About: For more than five months, the city has been taken over by the Dark Guild Singed Flame. We have been terrorized, pillaged, and kept in captivity in this town. We will pay a certain amount if the guild can be wiped out altogether.

Reward: 300,000 Jewels

"Please just sign this witness of acceptance." He said to her. She took out a pen and signed her name, written on the paper because she witnessed the official job taking.

He smiled. "Thank you, miss. I'll be off now." He turns away from her and starts to walk.

"Wait!"

He stopped at her call.

"You still haven't answered my question. Who are you? What's your name?" He turns back to her this time.

"Dakar. My name is Dakar Solonis."

* * *

' _This must be the city.'_ Dakar thought.

"Come on Carla! We can do this!" He heard someone from behind him. He looked behind to see a girl, most likely twelve years old, with distinct blue hair. Behind her was a flying white female cat.

"Wendy, I do not understand why you took this request. You taking on a dark guild, alone?! This is too unsafe!"

"We'll be fine, Carla! We're here now! Nimbraki City!" The girl, now named Wendy, told Carla, stopping at the gates of the city.

Dakar then looked at her, and wondered, _'Strange. She has a mission here. I'll have to ask her to confirm.'_ He then turned to her, who still looked at the city.

"Excuse me, but I heard you have a mission here in this city. Can you tell me what is the mission you're taking?" He asked her. She looked at him and so did Carla.

"I didn't notice you there, sir, but I'll be happy to oblige! Oh, and I'm Wendy Marvell! This is Carla!" Wendy cheerfully said.

"Wendy!" Carla exclaimed. Ignoring her, Wendy proceeded to tell Dakar the mission, which, oddly enough, was the same as his.

Once finished, Dakar nodded at her explanation.

"I see. Well Wendy, this may be a coincidence, but I'm taking the same mission as well. Why don't we team up to destroy this guild? We'll split the reward 60-40, with you taking the sixty percent of it." Dakar said to her. Wendy thought about it for a while. She then reached her decision.

"Sure! More people means we can beat them better!" Wendy said, accepting the proposal.

"Hold it!" Carla interrupted, flying between her companion and the stranger.

"Why? What is it?" Dakar asked.

"I want you to understand this, mister. If you think you're going to underestimate Wendy because she's rather young to be a mage, and I know that's what people will first think of her, don't. Her moniker is the "Maiden of the Sky" and for good reason." Carla quipped in.

"Well, why is she called that?" Before Carla could say anything, Wendy stopped her.

"Carla, thank you for speaking up for me, but I think I can handle this."

"If that's what you think, Wendy, then go ahead."

Wendy smiled. "Thanks again, Carla." She turned to Dakar. "The reason why I'm called the Maiden of the Sky is because I'm a Sky Dragon Slayer. I was raised and trained by Grandeeney, my dragon guardian, the Sky Dragon, in the art of her magic."

"Dragon Slayer Magic? I thought dragons were extinct?" Dakar asked, resulting in Carla giving him a hard glare, which was unnoticed by him as he looked at Wendy.

"Grandeeney is not dead! I know she's still here! Somewhere... I'll find her, no matter what!" Wendy said with determination. He then turned to Carla, gesturing her to explain.

"Wendy's touchy on the subject of her dragon. We both know, though, that she's out there." Dakar then raised his hands up and nodded.

"Alright. I see. I'm sorry about that, Wendy. Oh, and my name is Dakar Solonis."

"Dakar... well, that's alright. I just feel passionate about finding her again."

"Shall we go find the mayor of the city?"

"Let's." Both dragon slayer and exceed said, and the three walked in through the gates.

They noticed two people just standing near one of the shops, leaning back. Seeing them, Wendy ran after them.

"Wendy!" The other two called out, running after her.

"Hey! Do you guys know where the mayor is?" She asked. They only smirked at her question.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" One of them asked.

"I'll say-OOOOF!" The other said, only to be cut off by a punch to his gut, sending him away a few feet.

"What the?!" The conscious one said, before he turned and saw a cold Dakar. He spoke nothing.

"Who are you? Don't play any funny business! I know how to use fire!" The now afraid mage said, fire burning on his hands.

"Darkness: Constriction Point!" Dakar only said, and darkness appeared out of nowhere to grab the dark mage's hands.

"I can't move my aaAAAAAAAHHHH!" He yelled out as he felt his hands impaled by spikes within the bindings.

The bindings released themselves, and there were holes on his hands, leaking out blood.

"Light: White Burn!"

Light streams hit the mage, and he screamed until the wounds were cauterized. Dakar simply walked over to him and knocked him out.

As this was going on, Carla tended to Wendy.

"Wendy, don't you remember what the request said?" Carla asked her.

Wendy thought about it, and she realized. She then facepalmed.

"Right. I forgot. There's no way the mayor's out in the open."

"Now, where would the mayor be-" Wendy began, but got knocked out. So were Dakar and Carla. Three people stood over them.

"These must be them."

"Are you sure?"

"They have to be. Regardless, let's bring them to boss."

"Aye!"

* * *

"Was it really necessary?"

"We had to do it, lest we risked their lives."

"We could've done something else, you know! Not... knocking them out!"

"Everyone, silence!" A loud, yet assertive female voice spoke out amidst the chaos. They all looked at her. She stood in authority.

"Now is not the time to argue about the methods you used. They're about to wake up."

These were the voices they heard as they opened their eyes and woke up. They saw various people standing over them. The same female walked over and made herself visible to the three.

"Hello there. We're really sorry we had to do that, but we felt it to be necessary. We needed you to know where we are located."

She was in her mid-twenties. She wore decently, but it still represented her image as a mage.

Dakar stared at her in a neutral gaze, sitting up.

"Are you the mayor of Nimbraki City?" Wendy asked as she sat up along with Carla.

"Yes indeed girl. I'm the mayor of good old Nimbraki City. It's only a shame that my city has been taken over by that damned Singed Flame and made it their own base."

"Why didn't you try to fight back?" Carla asked, crossing her arms. The woman looked down.

"We did. Now I'm the only one left who can use magic. The rest here are just civilians."

"You mean... they all died fighting?"

"Yes."

Everything went silent.

"We understand if you don't want to take this request. From what you must've heard, you'd feel that it would probably be too much and-"

"We're taking it." Dakar interrupted.

"That it might- excuse me?"

"We're still taking the request." Wendy spoke up.

"Just because this dark guild has that reputation, that doesn't mean we can't try, right? We went here at first because of the reward. Now... we just want you guys to be free."

"He's right, you know. We're here now. We are not going to back down." Carla quipped in.

She just looked at the three of them. She then covered her face with her hands.

"I don't know what to say. I mean... it's been so long. No one wanted to take this job because it wasn't really known, and the implications of it too. We've lost all hope. Now... with just you three, you gave us all the reason to have hope again. Thank you." She wiped some of the tears on her face as she shed them.

Dakar walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw him smile.

"That's alright. I know how it feels. What's your name?"

"Rika. My name's Rika Dalaris."

"Well, don't worry, Rika. We'll take back the city. I promise you on that. We'll avenge those who died fighting them."

"Thank you. Thank you for doing this, um..."

"I'm Dakar."

"I'm wendy, and my exceed companion here is Carla."

Dakar walked away from her and back with Wendy and Carla. She looked back.

"You three... you three are our last hope, so please, be careful."

"We're mages, you and I. We both know the risks."

"Yes we do. Take the three of them back up top. They still have a mission to fulfill." Rika told some of the people there. They nodded.

"Yes, boss!"

The three were then taken back to the city center.

"Stay safe, you three." Rika said, and they all left. Dakar then noticed how well-developed the city was. After looking at it all around, he then turned to Wendy and Carla.

"Carla, can you be able to carry Wendy and fly high?" She nodded. He then turned to Wendy.

"Wendy, you'll be my eyes in the sky. You'll need to find the main base of the guild. Think you can do that?" She vigorously nodded.

"You can count on me!"

"Wait... how will you know where we'll be?" Carla asked.

They saw five hostiles running toward them.

"With this. Wendy, turn with your back facing me." Wendy followed his instruction.

"Darkness: Timed Tracker!" He clasps his hands. One turns black. the other remains as is. He gently places his dark hand below Wendy's shoulder. All the darkness magic from his hand disappears. As he removes his hand from her shoulder, a dark circle shows on its place. He smiles.

"With this tracker I can sense the recipient's whereabouts. Although I have to be in physical contact with who I want to take notice. It has a time limit, shown by how the color fades as time passes. Once it's gone, I will no longer be able to sense track your location. Now, I'll take care of these guys. Go."

With that, they both nodded, and Carla grabbed Wendy by her shoulders and flew off high in the sky. He turned to the five running towards him, and one was knocked out with a thrown random object. They all stopped and looked at their fallen comrade in shock.

"What the..."

"Hey! Why are you all hesitating? Darkness Echo Spiral Kicks!" He sent four roundhouse kicks resonating with darkness waves toward them. The waves struck, and they felt their entire bodies ring and go numb with pain and vibration. One of them recovered quickly, however.

"Eat this, you bastard!" He said and fired off a reddish flame stream straight towards Dakar. Wendy looked below and gasped, and so did Carla.

 _'Dakar!'_ They both thought in fear. Much to their shock, he merely stood there.

The flames rushed to burn him, but instead teh fire disappeared a few inches in front of him.

 _'What the?!'_ Was everyone's collective thought. The dragon slayer and exceed quickly left to find their destination.

"You finished? Good. Light: Summoned Swords!" Six light-based longswords appeared above each one. Dakar held his right hand up.

"So much for goons of a Dark Guild worthy of an A-Class mission. You aren't the first to fall. And you certainly won't be the last." He brought his hand down. So did the swords. Each that struck them dissolved into smoke. He walks past their unconscious and bloodied forms, stopping at the last.

"You'll all live. Don't worry."

 _'Now, to find the two...'_ He closes his eyes and his magic then focuses on Wendy...

"That must be the base! Fly us down there Carla!" Wendy instructed, pointing at the large park with a huge building at the middle. Carla followed. Dakar sensed them and headed the same way.

They landed just a few feet away from the building.

"Alright, we just have to wait for-"

"I'm here." He said, arriving.

"That was fast." Carla said.

"I'm a fast runner. Now you don't have to worry about waiting for me."

They then looked at the door of the building. It bore the guild insignia of Singed Flame. It was a red stream of fire with black fire at the tail end, in the form of a cleaved star.

"This must be it. Well then, let's go."

They walked to the entrance and gently opened the door, only for Dakar to be hit with an explosive flame blast.

"Dakar!" Wendy exclaimed.

He got on his feet quickly. "Damn it... I didn't expect that." He said, looking straight ahead as he recovered. He saw a robed man in purple.

"Hm... so you must be the ones who took the request by that woman." He said, as flames struck Dakar.

"No matter. Like the rest, you three will die all the same. Flame-Make: Prison!" A flaming hot prison cell surrounded Wendy and Carla. The two huddled together.

"Wendy! Carla!" Dakar cried out and headed towards them, but the man stopped him with a wall of flames. He turned to him, and the man smirked.

"Nope. Not letting you. You're facing me. You think you and your two companions can just strut in here and take down my guild? I'm Galigand, the guild master of Singed Flame. Now DIE! Flame-Make: Scythe!" Galigand swung his scythe towards Dakar. He dodged it.

"If you have a scythe, then I can have one as well!" He said as he continued dodging and avoiding the wall of flames surrounding them. He kicks him away.

"Requip: Infinitum Scythe!" On his back, a black and white scythe appeared. He unsheaths it and blocks Galigand's next swing with his own.

"You can Requip?" He smirked. "Good. This will be fun." They tried to overpower one another, momentum changing each second. Galigand then released one hand on the scythe, as he made a hand gesture.

"Flame-Make: Daggerfall!" Fire daggers appear from above Dakar. He looks up and widens his eyes. He jumps back and swings his scythe upwards, creating a light rift that blocks out the falling daggers. They disippate. He swings again, and darkness spikes rush out.

"Flame-Make: Shield!" His scythe disappears in place of a shield. He blocks the spikes and pushes foward. Dakar begins to be cornered.

Meanwhile, back with Wendy and Carla, Wendy curls herself, afraid.

"I can't, Carla! I can't!" She said, sobbing.

"You can do it, Wendy!" Carla told her, trying to empower her.

"I'm not strong enough! I'm not-"

"WENDY!" From the walls, she hears him.

"Dakar?!" She asks aloud.

"Believe in yourself, Wendy! You can be strong! Show why you're the Maiden of the Sky!" He tells her as he tries to push back against Galigand. He leaves some distance, and swings again, this time dark projectiles at it. He jumps up and swings downward, attaching to the shield by the top. He swings a full 180, and along with it, the shield, which lands on the floor hard.

"He's right. Know that you can be strong, Wendy!" Carla said.

Wendy looks on, watching the flames. She closes her eyes.

 _'They're counting on me... they do believe in me! I can do it! I can do it!'_

Her body glows with white magic. She opens her eyes.

"I CAN DO IT! Alright! Roar of the..." She takes in a deep breath.

"SKY DRAGON!" A hurricane of wind rushed out of her mouth.

The flames all blow away, revealing no more but the two fighting. The shield was still there, and so was the scythe, but the wall of flames was gone. Dakar smiled. Galigand glared heatedly at them.

"Flame-Make: Volcanic Geyser!" Galigand slams his hands down to the ground, and fire begins to rush out from the earth below.

Carla grabbed Wendy and flew away from the flaming geyser. Dakar jumped out and landed next to the flying duo. In front of them was the geyser and Galigand.

"Let's sync. Unison Raid?" He said.

"Alright!" Wendy agreed. She looks at Carla and nods. Carla lowers her down.

"Are you sure it will work, though?" She asked.

"It will. This is for those who've died fighting against you and your guild!" He said.

"FALL AND BURN! FLAME-MAKE: VOLCANIC GEYSER!" A second geyser rose from above them, but the trio luckily dodged back.

"Darkness..."

"Roar of the..."

"NIGHT BLAST!"

"SKY DRAGON!"

They released their attacks together and fused, making a Unison Raid. It was a white hurricane with black piercing energy combined, and it was heading straight for the dark guild master.

In an instant, the fires were whisked away, leaving Galigand standing, looking at the barreling magic attack towards hiim.

"A Unison Raid... heh." He holds out his arms. He closes his eyes and smiles, signifying surrender.

"I lose." The attack consumes him, and he is slammed back to the base. It knocks him out.

The two breathe a sigh of relief.

"Good job, you two! You beat him and their guild! You've freed this town now!" Carla said ecstatically, happy for them.

"Yeah, sure did." Dakar said.

"We did it! We finally did it! Ahhh!" Wendy jumped up in joy and high fived with Dakar, but felt her arm burn in pain. He looks at her.

"Burn marks. It seems that the flame prison scorched you a bit."

"I'll be fine, Dakar." Wendy reassuringly said. He shook his head.

"Not like something I can't fix." He moves his palm over the burn marks, and dim darkness energy appears over them, and they heal.

"Wow... it's kinda like my Healing Sky Magic."

"Eh, somewhat, I guess." He stands up and looks ahead. The sunset from the city was still beautiful to see. He smiles and turns back to the two.

"Let's go tell them the good news."

They called up the Magic Council to let them know about the dark guild's fall. A few hours later, they arrived to arrest them all. The night turned into celebration for the citizens of Nimbraki City. There was dancing, singing, drinking, and good fun. Dakar and Wendy celebrated as well as they had fun. Carla watched them, and she smiled.

 _'Wendy hasn't had this much fun in some time now. That Dakar... he's such a good person. She'll definitely miss him, but I feel we'll see each other again. I do hope we all meet soon once more.'_ Carla thought as she witnessed the festivities.

Night turned into day, and it was time for the three to go. Dakar and Wendy held their shares of the reward as promised.

"We are so grateful to have been freed from that guild. You did so much for us, giving us hope, giving us faith, and most of all, giving us something to rebuild again. We'll most certainly be strong again. As mayor, we can't thank you enough." Rika said.

"It was nothing." Dakar and Wendy said.

"You sure you won't stay longer?" Rika asked.

"I still have other things to do." Dakar answered.

"Me and Carla have to go back to Cait Shelter."

"I see. That's understandable. Well, it's time to bid you three farewell."

"Yeah. We'll surely visit the city again, right Wendy?"

"Yup! You can count on it."

Rika smiled.

Their farewell was met with supportive cheers and cries from everyone in the city, with everyone hoping that their saviors can visit once more.

Dakar and Wendy & Carla then approached a diverging road from Nimbraki.

"Well, this is where we part."

"Yes. I'll miss you, Dakar."

"I'll miss you too, Wendy."

They hugged. Carla only looked at them.

"C'mon Carla. Hug with us."

Eventually she relented.

Releasing the embrace, they smiled.

"We'll meet again, I'm sure." Dakar told them.

"I hope so."

Dakar walked on to the path to Magnolia. The dragon slayer and exceed companion walked on the opposite path.

"Bye Dakar!" Wendy waved at him.

"See ya Wendy." He did the same.

* * *

"Ah Wendy! Carla! Good to see you two again!" Master Robaul of Cait Shelter greeted her. They arrived at the Cait Shelter building almost two hours later.

"Hiya Master! We're back!" Wendy enthusiastically greeted.

"Greetings to you as well, Master Robaul." Carla formally said.

"I take it your job went well?" He asked. They both nodded.

"We succeeded. And we met a new friend as we began!"

"Well, my girl. This person must have done a lot to help you take down the guild."

"Actually... it was more like he did most of the work, but he still gave me the bigger share when we finished the mission! I didn't want it, but he insisted we keep the promise."

"Well, he must've wanted it to give to you."

"Yeah, but he jsut met me earlier today! I never expected that!"

"Wendy, it's alright."

"There must be some reason why he'd insisted. But... no time like the present! So tell me Wendy, who is he?"

"His name is Dakar Solonis!"

The cheery face of Robaul was then replaced with shock.

 _'Dakar?!'_

"Master Robaul? Are you okay?"

He shook his head.

"I'm alright, dear Wendy and Carla. Now, go along now, you two. Some of us missed you. I need some time to think."

They both nodded and left.

He turns away and towards the window to the land above Nirvana.

 _'Dakar... Dakar Solonis... you've reappeared. What are you planning to do now?'_

* * *

Arriving at Magnolia, Dakar saw Fairy Tail's building and Phantom Lord's castle. He also saw the various mages from both guilds about to charge and fight fight one another.

"Hmmm... so they're about to be at war..."

He smirked.

 _'Time to see what they're made of. Time to make my entrance.'_

* * *

 **AN: And that's it here. He'll be pretty much appearing for most, if not all, of the entire story. Keep in mind, though, that is not all of his powers. He's got some pretty wicked magic hiding in him. I'm pretty sure you all now know the first arc of this story. There will be some changes to canon due to his inovlvement and existence. Anyways, this is a first for me, but I plan to do a harem pairing for him. So far I have five girls to be paired for him, along with some other pairings for the other characters, but I don't know moving forward. I'll let you all know the girls I'll be pairing him off to as the story progresses and the entire pairing overall. I'll keep thinking on what I can do as it progresses.**

 **Anyways, I hope you all liked this prelude. Almost all the arcs will have at least one Pre-Arc chapter, btw. Also, leave a review, and do also give suggestions on what I can do for the story and the characters. Until then.**


	2. Arc 1 - Fairy Tail vs Phantom Lord!

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima._

* * *

 **Arc 1 - The War Between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord!**

 **Entrance! Titania's Fall! 15 Minutes!**

"Everyone, retreat!" Erza said to her comrades.

"No! We can't! We have to avenge Gramps!" Natsu told her, only for her to shake her head in response.

"Look around us, Natsu. We're outnumbered. At this current state we have to back off!"

Natsu looked at the charging guild members of Phantom Lord. He clenched his fist angrily. He turned to Erza, a crossed look on his face. But it told her everything.

"Fine, Erza. I'll follow. Get Gramps and everyone else here and go!" Gray looked at him as he fought.

"WHAT?! NO! We're not leaving you behind Natsu!" He said.

"Damn it, Gray, we can't waste anymore time! I'll be covering for you guys! Take Gramps and everyone else and take him to Porlyusica!"

"Natsu..." Erza said.

"GO!" Natsu turns to the enemies. Erza looks down.

 _'You better come back.'_ She raises her head back and turned to the others.

"You heard what Natsu said! Get Master and retreat!" The invading members then took back Makarov's unconscious form and left, leaving Natsu and Happy alone to face them.

"Are you sure about this, Natsu?" Happy asked. Natsu gave a small smile and a shake of his head.

"To be honest Happy, no. But... it wouldn't hurt to try. I'm fired up as it is right now."

He clasps his fists and takes a deep breath.

"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" A huge stream of fire drew from his breath. It propelled to his enemies.

"SHIT! Retreat!" One of them said. They all screamed in fear and ran. Natsu stopped and turned to Happy.

"Fly me up, Happy." Happy nodded and grabbed him. They flew up and backed away from the retreating figures. He took aim.

"FIRE DRAGON'S METEOR SHOWER!" Explosive fireballs came form his breath and hands and struck them. The first floor was left a smoldering ruin.

"We're done here, Happy. But before we leave..." He took one of them by the collar, and glared heatedly at him. "That was a message. Let your guild master know what happens when one messes with Fairy Tail. Especially when they hurt our precious nakama." He throws him down.

"Let's go." The two then walked away. As they left, from the shadows, guild master Jose Porla looked at the floor beneath him and with him, Gajeel and the Element Four.

"That Dragneel... he will pay, along with the rest of that damned Fairy Tail. Totomaru, stay here and guard Jupiter. The rest of you, disperse!"

"Yes Master!" The four left.

Gajeel was about to do the same, but Jose stopped him. "No, Gajeel. You stay." He looked at him, nodded, and crossed his arms. Jose sadistically smiled.

"I have my plans. Heartfilia will be ours. And Fairy Tail will perish."

"As Natsu instructed, everyone who attacked Phantom Lord retreated to the guild building, with Alzack, Bisca, and Lucy bringing Makarov to Porlyusica. Lucy had been in hiding since the attack on the opposing guild, and only came out now.

He's now resting peacefully as they look on while Porlyusica was making the treatment for him.

"Master..." Lucy said in concern.

"He's had his magic forcefully removed... such a technique can render the victim into a coma if not treated correctly and immeditely, However, this won't be easy. Makarov, you fool..."

"Is he going to be alright?" Bisca asked.

"This will take time, but yes, he will be healed. You humans... so foolish..."

The three still looked on and stood there. Somewhat angered, Porlyusica took a broom and flailed it at them.

"What are you still doing here standing?! Go!" Afraid, they quickly left.

"Hmph... humans..."

"You'd still be insulting yourself, Porlyusica." A new voice entered her home, one she recognized. Probably one of the very few she tolerates much. She chuckled.

"Heh, I didn't expect you to return so soon, Dakar." She turned around. He was there, carrying an unconscious Natsu and Happy.

"Now, why do you have Natsu and his companion?"

"I merely knocked them unconscious, lest he face three of the Element Four alone. Not even he's strong enough to defeat them all at once." He lays them down on the floor.

"Don't tell them anything about me. When they wake up, immediately send them back." He walks away.

"What are you going to do now?"

He turns and smirks.

"It's time I get myself involved in this."

* * *

"Is everyone alright?" Mirajane asked, as the three returned from Porlyusica.

"I think we're all good, but where's Natsu? He should have come back by now." Gray said.

"I only hope he's okay. He covered for us. We have to find him!" Erza said.

"Believe me Erza, I want to as well, but we have to recover first. That's why we retreated, remember?" Gray said to her.

"Right. Yeah. We'll do it once we're able, okay?"

Gray nodded.

They then felt the ground shake around them.

"W-what is happening?" Cana shakily asked.

"Is it a-an earthquake?" Macao asked as he tried to stay his balance, holding Romeo.

"No, it isn't! Everyone, look outside!" Elfman instructed from outside. Everyone did, and what they saw shocked them.

"Is that Phantom Lord?!" Mira asked. From a certain distance they saw the approaching castle.

"Impossible! A moving fortress?!"

Jose frigidly looked down at the Fairy Tail wizards. On the floor below him is a large cannon aimed at them. The castle stopped close enough to Fairy Tail.

"This will be your fall, Fairy Tail. This is Jupiter. Obliterate them." He coldly said.

"Everyone get back!" Erza said and requipped into her Adamantine Armor as Jupiter charged and glowed. Natsu and Happy saw the events unfold from far away.

"What are you doing, Erza?" Natsu spoke in shock, watching.

"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE DOWN THE GUILD!"

Jupiter was now at its brightest.

"No! Erza!"

"You'll die!"

 _'Is she... is she really going to... take the hit?! Even though her Adamantine Armor has the highest defense power of all her armors, it may be too much magic power even for her! I have to get to her!'_ He thought in fear. He turned to Happy.

"Happy, take me down there!"

"Aye, Natsu!" The duo flew and sped off towards the guild and Erza.

As all of this was happening, Dakar calmly walked towards the middling ground of the battlefield.

 _'Though neither know it, both of these guilds have been on my watch rather recently. The war, and not to mention my involvement will determine who falls. Now I think it's time for me to join a guild.'_ As he continues to walk, the sight of the battlefiled gets closer and closer. A huge flash of light flies by him.

Jupiter had fired. And Erza took the hit.

"ERZAAAAAAAAA!" Natsu yelled as Erza was blown away, too much from the blast. He catches her in time before she impacts the wall as the blast stops.

Her armor had been all but gone, replaced with her normal clothes, sans the armor she usually wears. She was severely injured and hurt, but luckily, the entire guild had been unharmed, at her expense, however.

She looks at him, with his eyes staring back to hers, a look of worry and, at the same time, relief on his face.

"Natsu... you came back..." She weakly said to him.

"Of course I would, Erza." He said. She weakly smiled.

"I'm... I'm glad..." She falls unconscious. He gently lays her down.

"Natsu..." Lucy called out.

"They'll pay. Phantom Lord will pay for this. Badly." He coldly said. Gray looked at themwith a sad look.

 _'Even with her strength, one shot is enough for Erza to fall. If we get blasted again, we might be doomed.'_ Gray thought, turning back to Phantom.

Jose grinned at their loss.

"First was your master. Now you saw what Jupiter can do. Even with your great Titania, she still fell to our power. Last chance. Now, give us Lucy Heartfilia!" He demanded.

"Not after what you did we will! You'll have to go through us to get her!" Gray said.

"Hmph. Fire again." Jupiter charged up once more. Everyone widened their eyes. Dakar, as he neared, only grinned at this.

"They're gonna fire again?!" Gray said.

"What do we do?" Cana asked.

"We're doomed!" Happy said in despair. It was then that Dakar reached the middle ground. He stopped there.

"Do you know who that man is, Master?" Gajeel asked. Jose shook his head.

"No, Gajeel. I don't. But the man seems to have a death wish if he's stopping in the middle of the battlefield. It won't matter either way, as he will die as well."

"What is that guy doing? Did he just stumble into the middle of the battlefield or something? Does he have a death wish?! He has to get out of here!" Lucy said.

"Hey! Are you trying to kill yourself?! Get away from here!" Cana yelled out to him, which he heard her words. He turned behind to look at her, and smirked, effectively ignoring her warning.

 _'It's time.'_ He turned back to face Phantom Lord.

Even though it looked like it was at its full strength, it didn't glow as brightly as the previous shot.

"FIRE!" Jupiter fired its shot towards the guild and at Dakar. He held his hand up.

"OH NO!" Everyone at Fairy Tail said in fear.

All of a sudden, the huge magical last disippated inches in front of Dakar. Everyone, including those at Phantom Lord, widened their eyes in shock.

"WHAT?! IMPOSSIBLE!" Jose said in anger.

Back with Fairy Tail, everyone was utterly shocked.

"No way..."

"That's impossible..."

"How was he able to..."

He smirked.

"That the best you can do? And I thought Phantom Lord was good." He said, the smirk turning into a mocking grin at them. Jose was fuming with hatred.

"Why that little..."

"If you're going to ask again, Jose..." Gray stated, interrupting him.

"WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP OUR COMRADE!" All of Fairy Tail yelled.

He slams his fist down in unbridled rage.

"THEN YOU WILL ALL PAY! SUFFER FOR FIFTEEN MORE MINTUES AS JUPITER RELOADS BEFORE IT FIRES AGAIN!"

From determination they all turned to shock, except for Dakar.

"Fifteen minutes before it fires again?! There must be something we can do!" Lucy said.

"We have to stop it!" Gray said.

"Wait... where's that guy in the middle?" Happy asked. They all looked at the battlefield and saw that he was gone.

"Yeah... where is that guy? That was rather fast." Natsu voiced out everyone's thoughts.

As for Dakar, he was now in different area. He looked around.

It was raining.

 _'Good. I'm out of there. But why is it raining?'_ He thought. He then saw a woman in blue holding an umbrella, wandering around.

 _'Could it be her? Is she the cause?'_ He thought.

He approaches her.

"Strange seeing a woman like you in the rain." He said.

"Likewise." She said, turning to look at him. "Juvia sees that you are not a part of Fairy Tail."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not... but I have plans. It seems that the rain won't stop. You're Phantom Lord, I noticed."

"Hmmm... yes." She said, looking up in the rain. "Juvia has never seen the clear sky. All that Juvia has ever seen is the rain. Like hopelessness."

He sighed. "Poor you... I do like the rain, though. It helps sometimes." He looks around and back at her. "Well, enough banter. It's obvious what we must do."

She puts down her umbrella. "Yes. We must fight, even if you are not a part of Fairy Tail. But before we start, if Juvia may ask, what is your name?"

He takes off his robe and uses his requip magic to put away the robe, leaving him with his shirt and pants on. The rain does not seem to affect him, the water having no effect on him or his clothes. "Dakar Solonis. Know that I will not make it easy, regardless of age or gender. Can you tell me yours?" Juvia slightly blushes at his appearance, but regains composure.

 _'This man... he already makes my heart flutter... despite that we just met... but Juvia must fight! He must be mine!'_

"Juvia Lockser, the Rain Woman of the Element Four."

He nods. Each take a stance.

"May the best mage win. Requip: Infinitum Scythe!" The scythe appears on his right. He takes a swing at her, in which darkness blades materialize from the force of the swing.

"Water Slicer!" She blocks the incoming blades with her own sharp water blades.

It was a battle in the rain that has just begun, unaware to either that a lot of time had passed.

* * *

 **AN: Well, that finally got out of the way. As you've all noticed, the first change I've made is changing Juvia's opponent from Gray to Dakar. They'll still fight, her and Gray. It'll just be somewhat different. Natsu will be a bit different, but he'll still be the same Natsu we all know and love.**

 **I hope this will be the beginning of something big. I intend to follow this through until the end of the manga. I still don't know who to pair for Dakar, but I think it'll just be revealed one by one as the events continue.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Remember to review. They help a lot.**

 **Until then.**


	3. Firefight!

**Firefight: Natsu vs Totomaru!**

 **Before Dakar's encounter with Juvia...**

Amidst the chaos, Dakar had a clear view of everything, including the shade warriors sent by Jose. While Fairy Tail was distracted by Erza's fall, he looked up to the sky.

"It's time to fly." He soared up to the sky. He looked back down.

 _'Shade Warriors, eh, Jose? So it seems that they've ran out of human troops. For you to rely on these... imitations as Jupiter reloads, it forces you to acknowledge how powerful Fairy Tail can be.'_ He thought.

 _'What is it that Phantom Lord can do? I wonder...'_ And as he had thought, he flew over to the castle, entering through the back.

Back down, everyone else looked ahead, and saw those warriors.

"You have two options, Fairy Tail. Die by Jupiter, or get killed by my warriors." Jose warned.

"Is he willing to kill his own guild members just to destroy us? Is he insane?" Lucy asked aloud.

"Maybe he's only threatening us... he isn't that willing... is he?" One of the others said.

"No... those aren't human. They're his shades. Nothing more but shadow-like ghost figures. They're expendable, so it's no loss at all to him." Cana said, noting the charging shades.

"We don't have much time. We need to destroy Jupiter!" Gray said.

"But how?" Elfman questioned.

"Leave that to me. Fifteen minutes right?" They nodded. He turned to Happy. "Happy! Let's go!"

"Aye Natsu!" Happy said, grabbing Natsu as they flew up to the castle.

As the two flew away, Gray turned back to the others.

"Let's get Erza back inside. She needs to recover." Cana and Lucy carried her back to the guild with some of them following suit, the others staying, like Loke, to fight back and defend.

"What do we do Natsu?" Happy asked him.

"Well let's try the most obvious. Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He sends a glowing punch to the cannon, with no effect whatsoever.

"That didn't work. What now Natsu?"

"Damn. I thought that would work. I think..." He looked more closely to the structure of the castle.

"Hey, Happy." He turned to Happy.

"Yeah, Natsu?"

"We may need to destroy it from the inside. Think you can fly us through the mouth of the cannon?"

"No problem, Natsu!" Natsu pointed there.

"Then let's get going!"

"Aye, sir!" The two would then fly towards the cannon, crawling in.

"This should lead us to the power source."

 _'For a big cannon the inside is so small.'_ Happy internally noted. They reached the firing room of the cannon. They immediately took notice of the black lacrima sphere in the middle of the room.

"Wow! I've never seen a lacrima this big! This must be what's powering up Jupiter!" Happy said.

"What is it that they called it? A magic convergent cannon? It uses magic instead of bullets as ammo, right?" Natsu asked. Happy nodded.

"Yup!"

"I don't understand these weapons that much, only the basics, but if this serves me right, then all we have to do is destroy this lacrima to stop it right?" Happy nodded again at that question.

Natsu grinned. "Then let's get to it!"

A shadowy figure appeared from the walls, staring at the slayer-exceed duo.

"I won't let you do that..." He said.

"Is that a guard?!" Happy asked.

"Don't care about that! We only focus on destroying the lacrima, Happy! We'll put down anyone who gets in our way!" Natsu charges at the lacrima, right fist engulfed in flames.

"I said I will not let you do that..." The figure said again.

"Did I say I care?! Get the heck out fo my way before I-"

All of a sudden, Natsu's fist strikes him instead, experiencing a punch to the face.

"Gah!" He recoils from the sudden strike to himself before recovering.

"Natsu! What are you doing?!"

"No... my body moved on its own!"

The shadowy figure makes himself known.

Totomaru. The Great Fire of The Element Four.

"It's not me in your way, but rather... you Fairy Tail wizards in _our_ way." Totomaru said.

All the while this was happening, Dakar came across the room, still levitating. He saw them about to fight. He smirks and assumes a sitting position from the ceiling.

 _'When I said that Natsu could not take on the Element Four all by himself, it's only when they outnumber him. On a one-on-one battle, he can beat them, even when he's at a disadvantage, as he'll soon find out.'_ Dakar thought. His smirk widens in an almost sadistic fashion. He readjusts his glasses.

 _'Natsu Dragneel...'_

* * *

Back with Fairy Tail, Cana and Lucy lay Erza on one of the makeshift medic beds.

"Will she be alright?" One of the other members of the guild asked.

"I don't know, but one thing is for sure. Erza's down and out for now." Gray said.

"Let's try calling Laxus. Maybe he can help us." Another guild member suggested.

"No. That guy will refuse to help us." Cana countered.

"More so that he'll laugh it off." Gray added.

"Can we at least try?

"... and tell me why should I help you guys?" Laxus asked. They were communicating through a communication lacrima orb.

"Come on Laxus, at least be concerned for the guild." Cana said. Laxus smirked.

"Only if Makarov gives me the position of guild master."

"You know he wouldn't do that, less so with you. And come on, this is for Lucy, one of us." She retorted.

"Her? The girl who can't do anything once something happens to her keys?" He grew more arrogant.

"My answer still stands. I won't help until grandfather gives the title to me." He laughed. It ended abruptly when Mira punched through the orb.

"Seriously... he just doesn't care." Mira said in sorrow. Elfman sees this and walks up to her.

"Don't worry, Mirajane." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Mira smiled at him.

"It's alright Mira. We'll be able to end the war without him anyway." Cana said to her.

"Yeah. We can beat Phantom down without his help." Gray added.

"Lucy?" Mira called out.

"Yeah?"

"Why did Phantom want you in the first place?"

"I was once captured by them before, when you guys had left to strike at Phantom. I was taken to their base before you guys had arrived. I learned there why they wanted me in the first place: my dad... my own father... hired them to capture me and take me back to him. I ran away from him and everyone there because... to be honest, and to be frank, it was full of shit there. Ever since my mom died... he changed. He started to care less about me, he started to neglect me, leaving me to the other servants, and he still never noticed my accomplishments. To me, he wasn't my dad anymore, so I ran away. Now... with my father now hiring these... these... bastards, this is all my fault." She cried at the end.

"Wait... how were you saved?" Cana asked, engaging in their conversation.

"Well, just as I heard you guys barging into their guild, where me and their guild master finished talking... I was first blinded by light, and so did everyone there. Then suddenly, darkness. And then a few seconds later, I saw that I was back in the guild. I don't know who saved me, but I'm very grateful for what he... or she did. But I don't know why I was rescued either."

"I see. Lucy, its not your fault. In fact, everyone's proud to fight this war, not only for the guild, but also for you. Now that we know what they're getting, we'll fight for you. We'll protect you. All for you. It's what we do for everyone else here. We fight and protect each other. You're part of Fairy Tail now. That is what we do." Mira comfortingly said.

"Mira... thank you."

Having heard more than enough, Cana stood up.

"Well, they wanted a war." She walked and turned.

"Let's give them one."

Everyone else started to move. Lucy tried, but was stopped by Mira.

"You can't fight in this war, Lucy."

"But why not? This all started with me!"

"I know. And that's why we can't let you, because we're willing to fight for you." She puts her to sleep.

"Reedus! Take her to the other hideout!" She instructed. A light brown-haired man wearing something akin to a large snowball saluted.

"Yes Mira!"

With Lucy safe from Phantom, Mira sighs. She looks on ahead.

"I may not have my powers to fight anymore... but..." She transforms into Lucy.

"I'll protect them, no matter what!"

There were only seven minutes left.

 _'We're counting on you, Natsu!'_

* * *

Back with Natsu and Totomaru, Natsu was having a hard time fighting him, mostly because of his attacks being sent back to him.

"Natsu!" Happy cried. Natsu panted. Seeing this, Totomaru smirked.

"Are you getting tired already, Salamander? I've heard a lot about you, but if this is all you've got then I'm sorely disappointed. Remember, I control the flames." He smugly said. Natsu gritted his teeth.

"I'm not yet gonna go down!"

"Also remember this. Regardless if it's your flames or of nature's, I can control it. It's mine!"

"My flame is mine you bastard!"

Jupiter glows.

"Wahhhh, Natsu hurry! It's almost ready! We have six and a half minutes!" Happy said, panicking.

"Try this flame on for size. Blue Fire!" And as Totomaru stated, blue fire appeared. Natsu quickly eats it. He shivers.

"Whoa. This is some cold stuff."

"I needed to make sure you are the Fire Dragon Slayer. And it seems you are. It looks like we're both in a bad spot."

"Yeah? Tell me why?"

"You use and eat fire. I control it. No matter what, we negate each other. Our flames are not as effective to use against one another."

"Don't get too cocky. You haven't tasted my flames yet. Don't come to conclusions."

"You seem to forget. I won't be hit by any fire attack."

Natsu smirks. "Let's see this one then. Salamander's..." Natsu prepares. Totomaru readies himself as he realizes what he intends to do.

 _This is that attack where he breathes fire! What is he thinking? I'm only going to swing that away-'_ Totomaru thought before he got cut off.

"SPIT!" Natsu, quite literally, spat in Totomaru's face.

Dakar tilted his head in confusion.

"The hell, Natsu?" He said to himself, and then began to laugh, which went unnoticed by the three below him. "Of course. Only you would think of that."

Happy sweatdropped. "Really, Natsu?"

Natsu laughed. "Well, that was the only way I know how he'll be caught off-guard."

"That idiot..." Totomaru growled. "You fucking tricked me, you bastard! Take this! Orange Fire!"

Natsu smirks. "Let's see what this one's like."

The orange-colored flame engulfs him. He eats it. He widens his eyes in horror.

"What the hell?! My nose is- Gahhh!" He shrieked. Totomaru laughed.

"That's garbage fire. Otherwise known as the shit-scent flame."

Natsu pushes away the orange flame. Jupiter glows brighter.

Three minutes.

"I'VE HAD IT NOW! THAT'S IT!" Fire envelops around Natsu's entire body.

"Natsu calm down!" Happy tries to lessen his anger to no avail.

"Shut it Happy! I'll calm down when he's down!" The fire dies out and he starts swinging at Totomaru.

"Did you give up on your fire attacks and start to rely on your fists? I'll still be at an advantage because I have a sword." Totomaru pulls out a sword from his sheath and blocks his punch.

From above, Dakar intensely watches.

"Let's put a little handicap to this stupid cannon. Darkness: Implosion Shield!" He blocks the mouth of the cannon with darkness magic, which goes unnoticed by the two fire magic combatants, but Happy does notice.

 _'Darkness magic? That's strange.'_ The exceed thought. He looked up and saw him. He gasped. Dakar shook his head and shushed him, smiling, as if to say "Not yet." Happy could only nod in fear.

"Take this!" Natsu sent a flaming fist to Totomaru. Totomaru quickly redirected it back to Natsu.

"You don't get it do you?! How many times do I-" Flames burst from Natsu's punch, engulfing him.

 _'GAH! He must've used more than enough fire to hit me when I redirected his punch back at him! Let's see what happens when I use this!'_ Totomaru thought.

"RED FIRE!" Dark red flames burst through heading straight for Natsu.

'I'll just eat it all up!" And Natsu did.

"You fool." He only said to him. Natau started coughing up.

"You're a fool to believe that all fire can be edible. Red fire...it's also known as... poison fire."

Natsu and Happy gasped, while Dakar raised an eyebrow.

"You bastard..." Natsu coughed up blood.

"I think that's enough." Dakar said, descending.

"You... you're the one who made Jupiter's shot disappear!"

He smirked. "Yup." He turned to Natsu. "Dragneel... let me remove that poison from your body. Dark Healer Magic: Baleful Purge!" Darkness inched towards his body and enveloped him.

"What is this? It's like all my pain's going away!"

"Wow, mister." Happy said in astonishment.

"Thank you, Happy."

"Wait... how do you know our names?" He asked him.

"I've got my ways." He turned to Natsu, who is now purged of the poison within him.

"Natsu Dragneel... I look forward to our next encounter." He disappears in a blackout. Natsu looks around to find him, to no avail. Totomaru looks slightly scared.

In fact, all of them were. Natsu still put up a good front.

Twenty seconds. Jupiter is now at its brightest.

"NATSU! HURRY!" Happy cried out.

"I don't know who you are, but I'll keep that in mind." Fire erupts. Totomaru tries to control it, only to his shock and horror, that he can't.

 _'H-how? Has he found a way to prevent his flames from being controlled?'_

"Now, where were we? Remember this when one tries to control my fire: MY FLAMES ARE MINE AND MINE ALONE!" Natsu sends a fire blast.

"What good will that do when I'm out of the way?!" Totomaru dodges the blast...

"I WASN'T AIMING FOR YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE!" ...only for it to strike Jupiter's lacrima core. It crumbles, and the cannon falls. Everyone outside takes notice.

"Hey look! The cannon's crumbling!"

"This is our chance! We can defeat Phantom!"

Cana looked ahead. "Way to go Natsu. You did it!" Cana said. A shadow looms over her, and she looks up. She sees Dakar looking at the castle. He looks down at her and smiles. He flies away.

 _'It's him. The guy who saved us back when Jupiter struck.'_ She thought, as a black-and-white rose fell on her hands. She looks at it, confused.

Back inside, the shield bursts from the blast. They all cry out from the shield's explosion hitting them.

 _'What is this?'_ Happy thought as he gets knocked back by the blast, hitting the wall.

 _'He's stronger than I thought... Master never told me that there's still strong members of Fairy Tail... at this rate... I only have one last attack. I'll have to make that count!'_ Totomaru exhaustedly thought.

"We're not going down this easily! You had your chance. It's our turn now!" Natsu said to him.

"S-sir... Jupiter has collapsed from the inside..." A member of Phantom said to Jose.

"I know that. Make preparations. Those damn Fairy Tail scum..." He said.

 _'Jupiter has fallen... I did not expect myself to use this... but at the same time... it excites me!'_ He thought. He viciously looked at the battlefield below, a wide smirk on his face.

"It's time for our trump card."

* * *

"Who... it's you!" Mira said as she realized who was in front of her. Inside the guild building was him.

"Hello, Lucy, or should I say... Mirajane Strauss." Dakar said, and Mira transforms back into herself. He stood before Erza's prone unconscious body.

"Don't you dare hurt Erza!" She said. He laughed aloud.

"And how exactly are you going to do that? You may be an S-Class Wizard, but you've lost'... _or rather supressed_...' your Take-Over Magic sometime ago. You're powerless. But don't worry about your friend and fellow S-Class Wizard Erza Scarlet." He rested his hand on Erza's shoulder.

"I'm not gonna hurt anyone... at least, not yet." He removed his hand on her shoulder. Mirajane lowered her guard upon realizing that he indeed won't.

"What did you do to her? And how did you know our names?" She asked him.

"As I have said to Happy, I have my ways. As for Erza, give time. She should be better now. I'll be off now." He turned and walked away.

"Wait!" He stopped.

"Hm?"

"Why are you doing this? Why help us?" He remained silent for sometime, his head down.

 _'This is strange... even for me. However... I have to put this up until the end of the war.'_ He thought. He looks back straight ahead.

"Tell you what... at the end of this war, you'll know why, along wirh your other friends. And as a final note, what you're doing, putting yourself as Lucy Heartfilia, to fool Phantom... it will not work. Keep that in mind. Oh, and one more thing..." Blackout. The lights returned, and Mira was alone with Erza, Dakar gone. She saw on her hand a black-and-white rose.

She then heard his whisper, "I look forward to meeting you again, Strauss." She looks on at where he once stood.

 _'He's... mysterious. He blocked that attack as if it was nothing, and he did it for no reason at all. And he healed up Erza as well. He refuses to say why he's doing it for us. And... this rose he left me... just... who is he?'_

* * *

 **AN: Did this as quickly and as faithfully as I could to integrate Dakar into the story. It's tough to not visualize the events after not watching/reading Fairy Tail for so long, so I had to reread the manga and rewatch the anime. They really helped out a lot. Plans change over time, and I've really been thinking as to how the story should go to make it close to canon as much as I could coping with a lot of changes. Dakar's still a mystery, but there will be things that will be revealed at the end of this arc. As for the harem and the pairings... I'll let you guess as to who they will be.**

 **Okay, so one review so far isn't bad. At least someone got to say something on what I've made. But those boxes below aren't there for nothing, so please review. It'll be really helpful based on your suggestions and comments on the chapter and story overall.**

 **Until then.**


	4. Clashing Water & Balance!

**Clashing Water & Balance: Juvia vs Dakar!**

"Requip: Infinitum Scythe!"

"Water Slicer!"

The scythe and the sharpened water blades clashed, the torrent of the rain flowing on their bodies. While Dakar's scythe strong in it's own right, Juvia had the advantage of the water being her very elemental strength. Feeding off the strong rain, the water blades strengthened and increased in size and mass, with Dakar gradually being pushed off and overpowered with it.

 _'Damn it. With the rain being fed off by these blades, and with the rain itself, Juvia can be able to get first strike. But I need to keep pushing.'_ He thought. He noticed as they were clashing, Juvia created another one, straight for his undefended side. His eyes widen and he gasps.

He jumps back, levitating in the air as he did while holding his scythe. The water mage quizically looked at him, the water blades receding back to its formlessness.

"You can... fly? That will not stop Juvia!" She said. He smirked.

"Isn't this why we are fighting? To keep going until one of us is defeated? I don't think simple levitation magic will stop you, Juvia." He said.

 _'Erza should be healed up by now and facing Aria. And also by now, Sol should be done too, thanks to Elfman and my rose.'_ He thought. He puts his scythe on his back. All of a sudden he felt something cut a part of his hair. He looked down.

"Water Shuriken!" During his thoughts, Juvia had began to throw the projectiles towards him. As he dodged, another grazed his cheek. He touched it and felt some blood seep out.

"Lightspire Needle Barrage!" Hard light needles shot through the shuriken, rendering them formless. She gritted her teeth.

 _'Even though these are sharp, they are still water. Juvia must find another way. Juvia needs to get closer. But how-'_ She thought before a few needles pierced her. From above he heard her gasp and... moan? He looked down again and saw the scarlet shade on her face.

He blushed from embarrassment. "Um... sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" He then shook his head and flew down quickly towards her.

With his scythe on hand, he slashed through her body, cutting her and bleeding her.

Except, it didn't.

"A water form?" He wondered aloud. The needles dropped, and Juvia became more transparent.

"This is part of Juvia's magic. Juvia can turn herself into water." She explained. He looked slightly amazed.

"Not bad of a power." He noted.

"Water Slicer!" Dakar dodged them, backing away. Juvia had other plans.

"Water Lock!" In an instant, she returned to her normal state and had Dakar locked in a dome of water.

"You will not escape." She said. He clutched his neck. However, he smirked as he did, faking the suffocation.

 _'Not so fast, Juvia. Light: Intensifying Burn!'_ The dome glowed and evaporated into steam, enveloping their entire battlefield.

"W-what?!" Juvia exclaimed in shock. _'Juvia's Water Lock... was countered?!'_ The rain noticeably slowed down. Unbeknownst to her, he wasn't on the ground anymore.

"Don't let your guard down, Juvia!" He spoke from above. She looked up. He was falling, his hands in form, ready to make an attack.

"Darkness-"

However...

"Ice-Make: Spear!" Dakar saw the icy spear plunged towards him. He stopped his magic, twisting his body to grab the spear and throw it aside. He looked at the direction the spear was thrown.

Gray Fullbuster.

 _'Gray...'_ He thought. Gray looked at the misty field and at Dakar.

 _'No way... I threw it as fast as I could... and yet he threw it as if it didn't affect him at all!'_ He thought in amazement.

However, Dakar momentarily forgot that he was still falling, now not in position. He didn't notice until it was too late, and he realized it in horror.

"Juvia, WATCH OUT!" He exclaimed. She gasped as she looked up. He crashed into her onto the ground. In the resulting scuffle, the rain mage was now on top of him, both dazed.

He groaned. "Ughhhhh... maybe I should've thought of this a little better." He said. Juvia, meanwhile, froze in shock, still on top of him, blushing. Quickly however, she gets off of him.

 _'Must not lose focus. Even though this man induces feelings Juvia has never felt in her life, he is still Juvia's enemy!'_ She thought, regaining composure, the blush almost gone, determined. She turned to her enemy, still lying down. Gray walked towards him as well. All the while as he was standing up.

 _'I have no choice!'_ Water formed on her hand. "Water Cane!"

 _'I don't know who he is or why he saved the guild, but he might be an enemy!'_ Ice formed. "Ice-Make: Sword!"

The magic attacks clashed with each other with high intensity, but it didn't hit Dakar.

 _'What the?! How?!'_ They both thought. He had ducked below their attacks. HIs arms now shot out to them.

"Nice try, you two. But you left yourselves open. Darkness & Light: Double Blast Ray!"

Combined black and white magic energy shot out and collided with his opponents. The blast blew them away and crashed them to the ground. They heavily breathed, gasping at the magic strength he had. The rain slowed.

 _'This magic... it's like I felt a small avalanche hit me. Just... how strong is this guy?!'_

 _'Juvia... has never felt power... like this in her life!'_

Dakar stood, sighing as the magical energy disappeared.

"I _knew_ that would be too much. Maybe I should dial down the magic." He wondered in slight frustration. The other two sat up, still panting from the last strike.

"Just... what kind of magic... do you have?" Gray asked. Dakar shrugged and held up four fingers.

"Well... while there's no fun in telling, I'll tell you anyway. First, the one I used to fight Juvia is the same type of magic your comrade Erza Scarlet uses."

 _'Requip Magic... so it isn't just Erza and Bisca who can do it.'_ Gray surmised.

"Second, a balancing act if you will, I use both Darkness and Light magic, as you two experienced first-hand. Now, how and why would those two magics ever co-exist?" He smirked. "It's because I did, and I had the unfortunate (or rather fortunate) event of having both. Although it did take some time. Third, Levitation magic, which I turned into Flight magic. Lastly, with my Darkness magic, I was able to augment it to make a variation of it: Dark Healer magic. Simply put, it's healer magic, only with Darkness magic, as you know if it hasn't been obvious by the name." He finished explaining.

However, Gray looked at him in confusion. He remembered what he did before he had left the battlefield all so suddenly.

"I don't get it. What about that time you destroyed Jupiter's shot from destroying us and the guild?" He asked. When Juvia heard about this, she gasped, widened her eyes, and looked at Dakar in shock.

 _'He... was able to withstand Jupiter?! But it looked like as if he was unscathed! Impossible!'_ She thought.

"That, Gray, and you too Juvia if you're listening, which I know you are, is another thing I'll let you know soon. Now-"

"Juvia will not let you attack! Water Slicer!" Gray could only shield himself due to his close proximity with her as the water blades went at both him and Dakar, while Dakar dodged them with ease, with the exception of the last one cutting his arm. He gasped and ran his hand over hte wound, healing it with darkness. He looked up to see Gray lunging at him from the sky, arms in cuts and all.

"Not a moment to lose! Ice-Make: Daggers!" From both his left and right, ice daggers appeared and launched at both his adversaries. With him far away from her now, Juvia set up a water shield to protect herself.

Dakar, however, was too close. At this rate, he could not be able to set up any magic defenses, and his scythe was useless in this situation. He realized this.

 _'Damn it! He's too close! I guess... I'll have to use this.'_ With the daggers swiftly approaching, Dakar assumed a swordfighter's stance.

Gray saw this in confusion. _'A swordfighter's stance? What is he doing? Unless... oh no.'_

"Requip: Devil Arm Yamato!" The scythe disappeared, replaced with the legendary sword and its scabbard. He unsheathed it and in an almost inhuman speed made sword slashes. They materialized from thin air, deflecting most, redirecting them back to his two opponents, and cutting up some of the daggers. Gray saw this and became surprised, but not for long as most of the daggers closed in on him.

"Ice-Make: Shield-GAH!" He made the shield on time before one of them plunged into his shoulder, blocking the rest of the daggers. Gray fell down, bleeding, removing the dagger in his shoulder. He then uses his ice magic to stop the bleeding on his shoulder. He looked up only to see Dakar gone. He looked at Juvia.

Juvia's shield was solid enough to stop the daggers coming at her.

 _'Juvia is lucky that this shield is solid enough to stop his attacks. Now, maybe I can-'_

"Did you really think I forgot about you, dear Juvia?" Dakar spoke from behind her. She gasped. He slices the shield away. She turned around, and was met with the sword's edge, the sword turned away. She backs away.

"Rapid Slash!" He moved past her at an inhuman speed, stopping only a few inches away from her. Instantly numerous slashes followed his direction. Quickly Juvia turned her body's density into water, and the slashes went past her as well. He drew back Yamato.

"Hm... I knew you would turn your body into water."

"Then why? Why did you attack anyway?"

"Tell me, Juvia. Why did you join Phantom Lord?"

In an instant, the rain grew stronger.

"I apologize for asking. But I'm only curious how someone like you joined a guild that's despicable in its actions. A beautiful and strong person at that."

Juvia hotly blushed. She had never encountered someone who was interested in her past, nor did she ever encounter someone who had complimented her like that.

However, she still knew who she was up against. She refocused herself, steely looking back at Dakar.

"Juvia is sorry... but Juvia cannot tell you until this is over!"

Gray looked on with pain and interest, still lying on the ground.

 _'The bleeding's stopped... but I still can't move... much...'_

The rainwater formed around Juvia.

"Water Giant!" The giant roared in courage.

Dakar, looking at the giant, grinned.

"Now _that_ is what I'm looking for in you, Juvia." He jumped at it.

"Requip: Infinitum Scythe!" The scythe took place of the sword. He swung it and darkness and light emerged. The giant blocked it with one arm and used the other arm to blow water. He took the hit.

 _'Like a geyser... why the hell is this hot water?!'_ He thought about it.

 _'Ahhh... of course. It heats up as she becomes more intense in fighting.'_

"Darkness: Cutting Spine!"

As he was falling, a line of darkness was sent to the giant before he landed next to Gray. He noticed him bleeding.

"Here. Let me help." He said, using his dark healer magic over his cold shoulder wound. He yelled out in pain as the wound closed itself with the magic's help.

"You numbed your shoulder using your ice magic." He commented. Gray shuddered.

"I had to do it to stop the bleeding."

Dakar spoke no more as he finished healing up the wound. He helped him stand up.

"This is the end. Surrender and give us Lucy Heartfilia." Juvia told them.

"I won't. Lucy's... Lucy's our nakama. I won't give her, even if I die!" Gray strongly said. Dakar only shrugged.

"Even if I did surrender, I'm not a part of them. At least not yet. But the person next to me said no. So I won't surrender either."

The rain grew stronger and hotter.

"What the hell is up with this rain?" Gray wondered.

"If you wish to continue to fight, then Juvia must defeat you by force!" The giant, controlled by Juvia's movements, rushed at them.

"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray said, forming the same shield he used. However, the ice quickly melted thanks to the boiling hot water of the rain.

 _'It melted?! Is the water really that strong?!'_

Dakar pushed Gray a bit from him. "I think you need more magic. Light: Sunlight Crystalis Explosion!" Dakar sent a large crystal towards the giant. It was immediately consumed. Dakar grinned. Juvia raised her eyebrow, confused. The crystal glowed and emitted a beeping sound. Juvia widened her eyes in horror. It then exploded, raining boiling hot water around the field. Some of it hit the two male wizards. Gray flinched. Dakar stood still despite it.

She quickly recovered and sent the torrent of rain to Gray, who at this point had gotten away from his two opponents. He froze off the water headed towards him while Dakar resumed using his scythe, waves of dark and light magic resonating from the scythe's swings. Eventually he formed enough to make a shield from the resulting waves.

The shield absorbed rain's heat and impact. He sent the shield back to both opponents. They both saw this and used their respective magics to block off the dark and light attack. However, it overwhelmed them both, sending them back crashing to the ground. Still, the rain withstood. Dakar jumped and changed his weapon back to Yamato. He held the handle of the sword.

"Dimension Slash!" He disappeared as a whirlwind of blades appeared all around the field. Juvia and Gray dodged all they could, but they still received cuts and slashes on their bodies, even with Juvia's ability to turn into water, and Gray's shields. The instantaneous attack then ended. Dakar looked at his fallen opponents with a smile.

"Is that all from you two?" He simply asked. The two adversaries gasped and panted. Dakar sensed something from behind him and moved a few inches from his position, an ice lance just moments later passing through his old position. However, he got struck at the back with an extremely hot water blade, courtesy of Juvia. He gasped as he felt his wound. He looked at the two, who are barely able to stand. He narrowed his eyes at them.

"I guess I'll give you two credit for that. But not this time-!" He felt his legs be bound by ice. He looked down to see exactly that, and then he looked up to see Gray smirking. Juvia used her magic to shoot rapid-fire shuriken, which struck him each time. Each procured wounds of random sizes. He gritted his teeth as he broke from the restraints, the wounds quickly healing with his magic. They stopped attacking him.

 _'I'm losing steam... and judging by the others, they're feeling the same.'_ Dakar thought.

"I don't understand." Dakar spoke out.

"What?" The two asked at the same time.

"Why did you stop?"

The two, though standing tall, panted. Juvia kneeled down.

"You're neither an enemy or ally. There's no point in continuing to fight." Gray reasoned.

"I can't hurt you. Not anymore." Juvia said. Dakar noticed the change in her tone and words.

"What do you mean, Juvia? You mean to say you have no chance of winning?"

"No... I'm strong... I know that... I can protect you..." She said.

"Juvia... why would you want to protect me?"

"I... if that is if you would let me..." Dakar walked closer to her. Gray only looked on. He looked right at her in the eyes and helped her stand.

"What do you exactly mean, Juvia?" He asked, walking back just a bit.

"I... what I mean to say is... in the short time we had... I... lo..." She stuttered, about to finish, until the rain got stronger.

"Did this rain just get a lot stronger?" Dakar asked aloud.

Juvia inwardly screamed. _'This is so annoying!'_

"What the hell is really up with this rain? It's like it got a lot worse. This is feeling depressing right now..." Gray muttered, leveling his hand to feel the rain more, looking up. Dakar immediately felt a change of emotion in Juvia.

"I didn't expect the rain to go on like this. The more time passes, the lower the feeling gets. This is sad, depressing even." He said.

Juvia, upon hearing the two's comments, looked at them, Dakar especially, in shock.

 _'Those two... they're just like the others... and Juvia thought Dakar would be different...'_ She thought, remembering some unpleasant memories.

 _"I hope Juvia doesn't go on the field trip this time. It always rains when she's around."_

 _"Juvia is an ameonna..."_

 _"Why is it always raining?! Now I can't go fishing or camping with you!"_

 _"Please break up with me."_

She let the rage build, and then it exploded.

"You're just like the others!"

Gray looked at her in surprise. "What the?!" He wondered, before he was engulfed with hot water. Dakar also got swept away.

 _'I'll just freeze this again-'_ He tried to freeze the water, to no avail.

 _'It's gotten hotter?!'_

Dakar meanwhile closed his eyes and heard her voice from within.

 _'I don't need love! I don't need it anymore!'_ He heard her thoughts. He sadly frowned.

 _'Juvia... I see now why you said you wanted to protect me._ '

 _'I am a member of the Element Four! A Phantom mage!'_

 _'Juvia... I understand.'_

Like an ocean wave, both Gray and Dakar felt it recede, only to grow larger. Juvia, seeing them disoriented, charged at them.

"I won't lose..."

"It's time I end this..."

"TO SOMEONE LIKE PHANTOM!" The water froze and so did the rain.

 _'To think Gray froze the rain... his magic power is immense!'_ Juvia thought in amazement.

"ICE GEYSER!" It was formed, and Juvia was struck. However, he did not notice Dakar's move.

Dakar opened his eyes and flew up to the sky.

"DARKNESS: NIGHT BLAST!" Piercing darkness energy surged from Dakar's body. It struck both Gray and Juvia. Gray saw this, but it was too late.

Now, both Gray and Juvia have fallen, lying down on the ground, both looking up at the sky.

"I lost..." The two said. Dakar landed next to Juvia.

"Nice work, Gray. But this was still a battle between the three of us. Only one of us had to win." He said. Gray looked at Dakar and smirked.

"Heh. I see..." Gray said before closing his eyes and losing consciousness, combined from his last magic attack and Dakar's.

With Gray out, he looked down at Juvia. He lowered himself down next to her. Juvia looked enamored at the clear sky. He smiled at her.

"The rain... it stopped..." Juvia said in disbelief.

"Yeah. It cleared up. I see that this is your first time looking up at the clear sky." He noted.

"This is... the clear sky?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"It's... beautiful..."

"It sure is. Like you." She heard his words and blushed.

"Juvia's not..."

"You are. I understand what you wanted to say earlier. But... rethink about that confession. Whatever your eventual decision will be, I'll always protect you, Juvia." He smiled at her.

"But... Dakar... no one has ever made me feel like this... only you have done so."

"I know. But let's not talk about that." He rested her body on his, holding her. "Just rest, okay?" He asked her. Juvia blushed again, but then felt comfortable under his embrace.

All she could utter was one word, smiling as she closed her eyes.

"Okay."

Juvia was the last member of the Element Four defeated, after Aria was swiftly defeated by Erza, despite both starting at almost the same time.

* * *

"IMPOSSIBLE! WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALL MEMEBERS OF THE ELEMENT FOUR ARE DEFEATED?!" Jose lashed out.

"I-I-I don't know sir! It just happened!" The member who reported it said.

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THOSE PIECES OF TRASH FAIRY TAIL TOOK OUT ALL OF THE ELEMENTAL FOUR?! WHERE IS GAJEEL?!"

"Right here, master." He had arrived.

"I see you've returned." Jose noted.

"If they got beaten up by trash like that, then they're all trash." Gajeel spoke and smirked sadistically.

"Luckily enough... I've got a gift for you, Master Jose."

He threw her down to the floor before Master Jose.

"Lucy?! But how?!"

"Don't underestimate the abilities of a Dragon Slayer."

"She's... she's alive, right?"

"We won't be able to get the money if she dies, you know..."

Gajeel looked in thought before kicking Lucy's body to the side. She coughed and panted. The others gasped.

"Don't do that!' One of them warned.

"She looks alive to me. But the big guy who was with her could be dead already." He only said. He turned to Jose, who smirked sadistically.

"As expected of the strongest in my guild. Good work, Gajeel."

Loke arrived to the hiding place and saw the bruised and bloodied Reedus. He kept apologizing to him, and Loke realized that Lucy got taken. He looked out to the open door.

 _'Damn it... I should've been with them!'_

Back at the castle, Jose turned to the comms.

"To all members of Fairy Tail, we have succeeded in our first objective." He announced to the defending members of Fairy Tail.

"We have captured Lucy Heartfilia." He said, shocking everyone in Fairy Tail.

"What?!"

"They found our hideout?!"

They then heard her screams.

"NO! LUCY!" Natsu yelled out.

"STOP IT!" Mira yelled out. The rose Dakar left her had been replaced with a clone of his. He held her.

"We'll find a way. I'm sure my original has something up."

Mira looked at him. "Are you sure.. Dakar?"

He smiled. "My time's almost up. But I'm sure he'll find a way." He disappeared in a flash of darkness and light.

"I'm sure you all heard it. We have but one objective left..."

The shades had gotten stronger all of a sudden. They rushed at them.

"What the... it's like they've gotten stronger all of a sudden! AHHHH!" Cana said, after being struck by one of them. She coughed a bit of blood. The rose Cana had changed. It turned into a winged creature.

"To slaughter and annihilate the lot of you... disgusting brats." He darkly said.

From far away, Dakar felt his roses change. He felt Mira's disappear. He felt Cana's as well. He looked down at Juvia's sleeping form. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"Dakar... I promise... I love..." She sleepily said.

"Just rest up, Juvia. I have to go." He carefully laid her down. He looked at the still unconscious Gray. "You too, Gray."

He turned back to the battlefield of the two guilds. He soared high and flew through the sky.

Back down, Jose sensed some of them in the castle.

"It seems there's some insects who have gotten through." He noted.

"Watch Heartfilia for me, will you? I will take care of them." He said to Gajeel.

"Duly noted, Master." The iron dragon slayer nodded.

"I will show them that they will see no more miracles. This is their end."

Inside the castle were Natsu and Erza.

"Those bastards..." Natsu muttered.

"Natsu..." Erza said.

"Yeah, Erza?"

"It's time. You have so much potential, you know. As long as you believe, it'll awaken and grow stronger. Lucy... the guild... you can protect them."

"Erza... we'll protect this guild together."

"I know. Which is why... awaken your power. It's now time."

The flames blazed in Natsu's body.

"I'll make sure everyone's safe. Erza... I'll protect you too." He turned towards her, and back, and left, leaving Happy and Erza in the distance.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Porlyusica...

The elderly guild master slightly opened his eyes.

"Makarov..." The elderly medical mage said.

"Porlyusica... how are my kids?" He asked.

"Of course... the moment you wake up your concern goes to those brats... but that's why you're guild master, Makarov." She said, giving a small smile.

"It's what I do. They're my family."

"True. Alright, Makarov. This is what happened so far..."

* * *

 **AN: I'm back again!** **Finally after some time I've updated. And just a few days before Christmas too.** **So, I had skipped out the Abyss Break event thing, and also the Erza-Aria and Elfman-Sol fights. Now, as you've noticed, I've dropped one crossover element already here. Yeah, I had Dakar own Yamato. I had that planned in the very beginning.**

 **There's only one or two chapters left in the Phantom Lord-Fairy Tail War Arc. As for Juvia, we'll see more of her soon enough. She's an awesome character for me. WIll she be paired with Dakar? Possibly. I think my limit for the girls paired for Dakar will be 5 to 7. Maybe.**

 **Review to tell me your thoughts about this fic so far. Don't be afraid. I'll try to respond to the reviews sent to this fic.**

 **Until then.**

 **And again, remember to review, everyone!**


	5. Aces Battle! Part 1

**Aces Battle: Natsu vs Gajeel vs Dakar! Part 1**

"ERZA?!" Three distinct voices called out.

Mirajane, Elfman, and Gray all arrived at the castle. Elfman and Gray looked worn out, due to their respecitve battles against Sol and Juvia & Dakar. The Titania turned around and saw them. For Elfman and Gray, they were surprised that she was standing tall and looked uninjured. Mira, for the most part, wasn't surprised, considering the words Dakar spoke to her.

 _'So he wasn't bluffing when he said Erza would be healed up and ready. Still... to see her back on her feet quickly is astonishing.'_ She thought.

"How the heck did you recover so fast?" Gray asked.

"I don't know myself... but when I woke up, it's like everything that I felt when I got hit with Jupiter was gone and I felt a lot better now. It was why I defeated Aria so quickly."

"So it was you who fought him. I suspected as such. But even then, I'm surprised."

They felt something. Something malevolent and sinister. The shades appeared around them. They looked around despite it to see where was the source of all of it. No doubt this was taking a toll on both Elfman and Gray, already exhausted and weakened prior. Mira shuddered.

"What the hell is this?!" Gray wondered aloud.

And then... clap. Clap. Clap.

"My, my. What a show you pathetic Fairies have put up."

"MASTER JOSE!"

Jose Porla bared his teeth, showing his dark and sinister smile.

"I never thought you'd give me so much enjoyment. Providing me this much entertainment, I should thank you for it."

 _'This guy's the guild master of Phantom Lord. I wish I can be able to fight him for what he did to us... but- GAH! I'm all out. Damn it...'_ Gray looked at Elfman and Erza. _'Elfman's almost out too... Erza, you're our last chance. I'm sorry...'_

Mira felt his magic leak. It was extremely sickening and evil, not unlike the dark magic she felt from Dakar, which was quite the exact opposite. She covered her mouth in fear, disgust, and agony.

 _'How... how is it that his magic is this evil? It's already physically sickening just by standing here!'_

Jose widened his grin.

"And I'll give you the proper thanks... in death." Immediately, Elfman and Gray stood in front of Mira. Jose only raised his hand up, and the shades appeared, circling his hand.

Erza, realizing what he was about to do, looked back at the three, and told them, "GET AWAY FROM THERE NOW!"

However, it was too late.

Jose used his magic to quickly and effortlessly dispose Gray and Elfman. They crashed, now unconscious.

"GRAY! ELFMAN!"

Not done, Jose sent a whirlwind of shades. Mira defended herself only to be blown away, grasping the floor not to be blown away even more. Erza changed her armor and attacked the shades, charging head-on towards the Phantom master. Almost unfazed, he sent more whirlwinds. Erza continued to hack away at them, still getting nearer to him. He grabbed her leg and threw her back, but she recovered quickly before landing.

"Ah, so it's you. I seem to remember you taking the force of Jupiter head-on. So tell me, how the hell are you still standing?" He asked, as they stood across each other.

The dust settles, and Erza held out her sword.

"Aside from the fact that someone, I don't know who, healed my body of its wounds, it's also my nakama. They make my heart resilient and strong. If I'm fighting for the people I love and care, then I don't care what happens to me, so long as I keep fighting for them."

Jose laughed, mocking her and her resolve.

"Indeed, that is an admirable cause and reason. It only makes it all the more worth killing you."

* * *

Natsu crashed through the wall, extremely pissed off.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried.

While the other Phantom members trembled in fear, Gajeel stared across him onto the fire dragon slayer, smirking.

"Took you a while, but you're finally here. I've been expecting you." He said.

"I'm gonna kick your ass for all you've done!" Natsu charged.

"Go ahead, try me!" Gajeel steeled himself for Natsu's attack.

"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"

"IRON DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"

No one noticed Dakar come in so quickly between them.

"I don't think so. Judgment Cut!" A sword slash appeared at inhuman speed and struck the two dragon slayers, disintegrating the fiery blow. And then more spawned, striking them more.

 _'Who the hell is this guy? And how is he able to move so quickly?'_ Both slayers thought, continuing to take the assault.

"Iron Dragon-"

"I won't let you. Spiral Swords!" Eight blue swords appeared around Gajeel. The iron dragon slayer smirked, grabbing one.

"Haven't you got the memo? I'm an Iron Dragon Slayer-" He was cut off by the swords striking him from every direction. He grabbed one and tried to eat it, but found that he couldn't, and he immediately let go of the sword due to its immense heat.

"I-Impossible! I can't eat these swords?!"

"Those aren't made of metal, you idiot. Those are hard light!"

At that, Natsu recognized the voice.

"You! You're the guy who healed me of my wounds!"

The slashes ended, and Dakar stood before the two slightly wounded dragon slayers.

"You're correct, Natsu." He said, smiling towards him.

Natsu then smelled the air around him.

"Why... why do I smell Gray on you?! And I can also smell someone else on you. What did you do to Gray?!"

"Simple, Salamander. Me, Gray, and Juvia fought, and, unfortunately for them, I won this one."

Gajeel looked at Dakar in surprise. _'He beat Juvia? This guy's not to be trifled with if he fought one of the Elemental Four, and a Fairy Tail wizard at the same time and still beat him. And while it looks like he's a bit winded, it may not even be stalling him at the moment!'_

"I don't care if you had helped me earlier. We may have fought sometimes before, but Gray's still my friend." Natsu's fists flared. "I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS FOR HURTING MY FRIEND!"

"NOT IF I CAN HELP IT! IRON DRAGON'S CLUB!"

"DON'T THINK I'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU! FIRE DRAGON'S CLAWS!"

The two rushed forward with their attacks towards each other.

"Rapid Slash." Dakar sped past the two in the middle, leaving behind a trail of slashes in his path. Both widened their eyes and stopped.

They jumped instead, their attacks still active.

Meanwhile, Happy was freeing Lucy from her confines on the wall.

"You okay, Lucy?" The exceed asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for freeing me, Happy. Who's that guy?"

"I don't know, but he healed up Natsu a while ago. I don't know why he's fighting the two of them."

The two only looked on as the trio continued to clash.

"FIRE DRAGON'S WING SLASH!"

"IRON DRAGON'S SWORD EDGE!"

"CRESENT SUN SLASH!"

The three attacks collided. However, none could take advantage.

"I guess it's time to change up." Yamato disappeared.

"I see you won't be using your sword then." Gajeel noted.

"Nope. For this fight, I'll use my own magic. Speaking of which..." He clasped his hands together. Darkness covered his arms.

"What do you have?" He asked.

 _'What the hell is this? Two dragon slayers, and a wizard no one knows! They've let out strong attacks, and they're still going to fight? How is this going to work?'_ Lucy thought in fear. To her right, Happy was shivering in fear.

Gajeel smirked. Suddenly, his arms were covered with metal.

"Dragon scales?!" Happy yelled out in shock.

Dakar raised an eyebrow at that. _'Dragon force? No, it's just a specialty of iron dragon slayers. They can cover their entire body with steel.'_

He was given no thought to continue, as he was rushed by Gajeel, sending a strike to his gut. He was sent to the air, and he saw him quickly rushing to Natsu, sending a flying kick, which Natsu ducked. The attack was so strong that its force created powerful winds.

The celestial wizard was almost blown aback, but she held herself.

Gajeel recovered and was met with a fist to his face, courtesy of Natsu. However, he didn't even flinch from the punch.

"My scales render all attacks useless." He explained. Natsu recoiled his fist back in pain.

 _'No way! Did his defense increase as well?!'_ Lucy thought.

"YOU'RE DONE FOR!" Dakar screamed from above. Gajeel looked up, and Dakar's dark powered fist struck him, sending him to the ground. He flipped back away from him. Gajeel quickly stood up. The three were now facing across each other as a triangle. The two slayers deeply breathed.

"FIRE DRAGON..."

"IRON DRAGON..."

Dakar formed his hands into a circle formation.

"DARKNESS..."

"Everyone get down now!" One of the Phantom members instructed.

"ROAR!/NIGHT BLAST!"

All three attacks struck each other. Everyone was blown away, but the three stood their ground. Holes on the wall were left behind the three courtesy of their attacks. The dust settled, and Gajeel stood tall on his side, as if nothing affected him, except for the darkness energy that was left on his right arm. Natsu held his left arm, as around his body were cuts and scratches and remnants of darkness energy. Dakar's shirt had been cut up, though the coat was unharmed. Burn scars were on his right arm, but it quickly disappeared. The darkness energy disappeared from the two's bodies. Strangely, the two felt some of their power slighly wane. But only slightly.

"Well, looks like you left me a dent here." Gajeel told Dakar. "But you, Salamander, it looks like the distance between our dragon elements are clear."

"No matter how powerful your flaming breath is, even when it's powerful enough to burn your opponent to ashes, it can't leave a single mark on my steel. On the contrary, my roar of iron blades can cut you up nicely. Face it, Salamander, you're powerless." The iron dragon slayer would've continued, if not for a sudden feeling on his body.

He felt his steel crack somewhere near his forehead. Everyone, save for Dakar and Natsu, looked at the cracked spot in shock.

"What? How is that..."

"My flames aren't just your average flames, you know. Dragon flames can incinerate anything, even your steel armor." He fully stood up. "If you won't give your all, you're only going to get smashed to bits, Iron Gajeel."

"Don't get too cocky, you two. All three of us are still standing, but it looks like we've got the extent of our opponent's abilities." Dakar cut in.

"Playtime's over." He added. This further shocked everyone else not involved.

 _'These three are monsters!'_ They all thought.

"Only one of us can be left standing. I'll just smash you down, Salamander Natsu. And, um... what's your name?"

"Oh, right, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Dakar Solonis." He bowed. "The Darkness and Light Master." He smirked. Suddenly a strong force of Light magic was felt around everyone, and Natsu and Gajeel were pushed back.

"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" Natsu charged, but as he neared Dakar, his flames vanished. Still, he was able to punch him in the face, but the effect was not as strong as it was before with his flames.

"What the hell? How did my fire go out?"

Dakar showed a dark smirk. "Negation Magic. Currently I have it activated." He said as he deactivated it. "When it's activated, all forms of magic attacks directed towards me will have no effect and outright disappear. However, I could only activate it for so long, and even my negation magic has its limits, as it is right now."

Natsu stared at him in shock, and so did Lucy, Happy, and Gajeel.

 _'So that's how he was able to withstand Jupiter.'_ They all thought. Secretly, Dakar reactivated it again.

"Darkness Spiral Echo Kicks!" Four spin kicks were delivered, each with a resonating wave of darkness energy, two each aimed at the slayers. They jumped above the first one and used their roars to destroy the second.

"Light: Radiant Sword!" Multiple red-orange swords appeared around him, and moved, directed at both. They continued to dodge each, but the swords continued to go after them.

"Iron Dragon's Club!"

The swords were fast. On the contrary, Gajeel's was slow, but they still deflected the swords. Natsu, meanwhile, blazed red and used his attacks to deflect them. Dakar simply watched them, sending a sword every now and then.

Happy charged. "Why are you doing this?! You helped Natsu!" He yelled, only to be grabbed and thrown away by the dark and light mage.

"Sleep, little blue cat." He said, sending a wave of magic at the exceed. He was immediately hit with it and instantly fell asleep.

 _'I'm running out of time. Once my negation magic's time limit expires...'_ He thought.

"HAPPY! YOU'LL PAY! FIRE DRAGON'S WING SLASH!" Natsu struck him, fire and all. Dakar was not able to anticipate the attack, and was hit with everything from that attack. He was sent up in the air.

"IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!" This time, the whirling roar of sharp metal cut his body. Dakar gasped and groaned in pain.

 _'Not bad. I didn't think it would be this painful though... to think this is their strength...'_ The negation mage thought. The roaring whirlwind dissipated, the Judgment Cut destroying its path.

Natsu gave it no thought, and charged towards him once more. So did Gajeel.

"FIRE DRAGON'S.../IRON DRAGON'S..."

Dakar widened his eyes and used his light magic to create a shield.

"IRON FIST!"

It was no use. The combined attack utterly destroyed the shield, and struck Dakar right on his torso. The force was so strong, it blew him through the wall. He crashed on the ground, nearly unconscious.

 _'No..._ _ **this**_ _is the extent of their strength. Soon enough, they'll be even stronger. But for now, I'll let them think they've beaten me... and fall... asleep...'_ From his thoughts, he smirked, fading to unconsciousness.

Deep within his thoughts, however... _'_ _Sleep for now, my friend. Let me see what I can do..._ _'_ Darkness then covered his body. Meanwhile, no one in the castle was aware of the Fairy Tail guild crumbling, falling to near total collapse.

From inside, the two dragon slayers looked out the way Dakar crashed into.

"Now that he's out of the way..." Gajeel spoke.

"...we can now finish this war." Natsu said, his fists blazing once more.

They punched each other right on their faces. They did so again, only this time, their fists met, creating a strong magic force that made the earth rise. They followed that up with more punches, each meeting a punch from the other. Gajeel sent one particular punch towards Natsu, only for him to duck and send a fire uppercut to his chin. This sent him back, only for him to recover. They each responded with a headbutt. Natsu's forehead bled, while Gajeel's forehead, which was encased with steel scales, cracked.

The Phantom members watched with awe and fear.

"No way..."

"This Salamander's on even terms with Gajeel..."

"Is he feeling the pressure?!"

"No... even Salamander looks pretty worn out too..."

 _'Crap... I'm losing energy for my magic...'_ Natsu thought, as they recoiled from the attack. He then saw Gajeel eat steel from the remains of the castle. He widened his eyes.

"WHAAAAAATTTT?!" Natsu shrieked. Gajeel smirked and laughed as he ate. "You little piece of...! How come you get to eat?!"

 _'So he really is a dragon slayer.'_ Lucy confirmed her and Happy's suspicions. She held Happy as she looked on, worried for her friend.

"Iron Dragon's Spear: Demonic Firewood!" Multiple spears shot out from the slayer, all of them striking Natsu. He continued beating him down with more punches and kicks.

"How... how is he recovered?! He was just staggering a minute ago!"

"Dragon... slayers..." She heard a voice coming from her lap. She looked down.

"Happy! You're awake!"

"... they can recover... or strengthen themselves... by eating items made of their own element... like how Natsu can eat fire because he's a Fire Dragon Slayer... Gajeel can do so as well... by eating steel or iron..." Happy fully explained as he was helped up by the celestial mage.

A thought popped up in Lucy as she watched. _'Then... doesn't he just have to... oh... of course... he can't eat his own fires...'_ She remembered in realization. _'C'mon I must have something!'_ She searched through her pocket as she watched Natsu continue to receive a brutal assault from Gajeel.

 _'Don't I have any fire celestial spirits with me?'_ And then she remembered, _'Oh, right... I lost the keys... but...'_ She took out one key from her pocket, as the curb-stomping Natsu was receiving became more vicious. _'This is the only one I have. The key I just got... Sagittarius... I haven't even made a contract with this yet... but this is all I can do!'_

The key glowed. "With my spirits by my side I can summon thee! Gate of the Centaur, open! SAGITTARIUS!" She chanted.

And with that, a man in a horse suit, with a bow and arrow and quiver, appeared. This was Sagittarius.

Similarly, the celestial spirit wizard and exceed were surprised.

"Yes! You called, milady?" Sagittarius asked.

"We'll go through this properly at a future time, but... can you be able to make fire?" She asked.

The centaur shook his head. "I'm sorry, but my skills lie in archery. I can't make fire."

"Lucy! Get back! This is too dangerous!" Natsu instructed. Lucy followed, albeit dejected at herself.

Natsu blazed, intending to punch him, but he dodged and grabbed Natsu's leg.

"Heh... guess you're not too strong when you're hungry, huh."

Natsu's response was to look at him in surprise, a smirking Iron Dragon Slayer meeting his view.

"Well then... EAT STEEL!" He swung his body to the wall. Lucy looked on in shock, covering her mouth in pure fear.

"I guess nobody can beat Gajeel after all..." One of the Phantom members noted.

"I have no use for you anymore." He still held Natsu's leg. "Now get out of my sight!" He threw him, sending him towards the wall. Happy covered his eyes in dread. Luckily, Natsu wasn't sent over the edge of the wall.

"Alright! That's how Gajeel rolls!" The Phantom members cheered him on.

"I didn't think that Natsu could be defeated..." Lucy said, tears rolling from her eyes,

"Look at what you fools have been fighting so hard to protect." He said.

However, he was in perfect view of what had been happening outside.

"Fairy Tail... has fallen."

And he was right. The guild had crumbled.

Natsu panted as he looked horrified and angered.

"There's one thing, Gajeel..."

"Huh?" He turned around.

"YOU'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME!" Dakar, with scarily inhuman speed, slashed through Gajeel's shoulder, forming a dent, much like how Natsu did earlier with his headbutting of him. He gasped in pain and held his shoulder. He kneeled down. He then collected some iron and consumed it. Dakar watched as he did, his sword still firmly on his hand, the blade's edge planted on the floor.

"How... how are you still conscious after what I did to you?" He asked him, as his shoulder and forehead were cleared up of it's 'wounds'.

"Correction: what you and Natsu did. To be fair, I did fall unconscious after that, but..." He twisted the sword's slash like a cresent, forming a moon-like physical circular edge.

"...did you think that I'd fall down just as simple as that?" The sun edge neared Gajeel, and he barely avoided the attack. Dakar's sword-dominant arm charged a bright blue as he struck the dragon slayer with a kick to his midsection. He followed that up with an elbow to his back. He released the sword, throwing it in a circular motion at Gajeel. The sword spun by itself.

Gajeel's arm turned into a sword, fighting against it, unaware of the kick that was sent to his head. He was in a daze, spinning around before using that spin to strike him back like hitting a baseball. Like the force of it, he was sent flying up before he stopped himself with his levitation.

"Not bad, Gajeel."

Gajeel gave no response and simply leaped after him.

"Guess I can't move..." Natsu noted. Lucy simply gave him a small smile.

"You always did go over the top with these..." Lucy softly said, with Happy giving an "Aye!" of approval.

* * *

As the battle with Erza and Jose Porla raged on, the walls began to crumble.

"Well, that dragon slayer could be _very_ destructive." He gave it as some sort of compliment, along with a chuckle.

Erza, still in her armor, grasped her sword and spoke, "It seems Natsu got underestimated. He's almost at my level. He could even surpass it..."

Jose shook his head at her. "Quit being modest this time, Titania. Your magic prowess is simply incredible, majestic, and magnificent. Did you know that no one has lasted this long against me since the previous one?"

He continued, "Had you not been damaged by the sheer power of Jupiter, then this would have been a very different outcome."

"Guess again, Master Jose." She said. "I was healed up. I don't know who. But I will put you down." The response she received was of pure malice.

However, Jose sensed something else. A dark force engulfed him. He knew the source came from above him, when Dakar was currently fighting Gajeel. Internally, he was slightly disturbed. Outside, there was nothing of the sort.

 _'Someone else is fighting Gajeel? Could it be... him?'_ Best that he pushed this thought aside and focus on his fight with Erza.

"You know what frustrates me, dear Erza?" He then struck her with his shadows.

"THE FACT THAT A MAGE OF THAT LEVEL EXISTS IN HIS GUILD!" He intensified his shadows more. He shot her away towards the wall.

"Do you know why I never killed Makarov outright when I had the most opportune time, Erza?"

Erza didn't speak, as she was too dazed.

"Despair. I want to show him despair and see him lose everything. All for him to feel what I felt when he disrespected me in front of the whole council, losing majority of what I once had, and even before that. Now, once he has lost his guild and nakama, then he will know what despair is. To know what suffering is."

He finished with an evil grin. "And _then,_ I'll kill him. He deserves every suffering he gets."

Erza flipped back, recovered. "You bastard…"

He narrowed his eyes at her, clear hatred running through them towards the Titania.

"Phantom Lord was _the_ top guild in all of Magnolia... until Makarov showed up."

"With the likes of you, Laxus, Gildarts, and Mystogan, we were quickly usurped from our position. And now, I've heard that you have Lucy Heartfilia as a part of your guild. That was the breaking point for me. And now… I'll destroy all of you for Phantom to be at the top spot again."

"And it starts with you, Erza Scarlet."

* * *

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

"Round Harvest." The sword was spun, and it sliced the roar to bits. The sword returned to his hand, sheathing it back, only to prepare himself again.

He smirked.

"Try again, Gajeel. That all you got?"

* * *

 **AN: Well... I'M** **STILL ALIVE! Despite a month or two since my last update. This was just taking too long for me, so I decided to split the three-way battle into two, so this arc's not yet over. So his next magic has been officially revealed and it makes things harder for the dragon slayers now, especially that they don't know how much time he still has.**

 **Anyways, leave a review. I'd love to hear your thoughts.**


	6. Aces Battle, Part 2! The War's End!

**Aces Battle, Part 2! The War's Conclusion!**

"Are you even trying, Gajeel? Because I can't even feel you hit me!" Dakar mocked as he dodged and deflected the iron dragon slayer's attacks, sending them away with ease. Each missed opportunity enraged him more and more, as he found himself frustrated at his ability to simply counterattack every time. Suddenly, Dakar sent an attack of his own. "Lightspire Needle Barrage!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel countered, the gust of blades easily destroying the attack. But once the roar ended, he saw Dakar already flinging towards him, his right hand covered in a combination of darkness and light. He was ready to punch his face. Gajeel had other plans, as he realized that the darkness/light mage left himself open.

' _Let's see if this works...'_ He thought. He put all of his weight into the punch, and their fists collided, sending a rupture of energy around them. Dakar immediately levitated away. He shook his hand.

"Yikes... maybe I should not have punched him head-on..." He wasn't given more time, however, as Gajeel, right arm now a sword, slashed at him. He barely managed to block it with Yamato, but Gajeel spun and kicked him right at his head. The kick sent him into a daze that he lost focus on his levitation and fell to the floor.

"Now for the finishing move..." Gajeel flung himself back down. He had his fist ready.

"IRON DRAGON'S STEEL FIST!" His fist turned into steel scales and he punched Dakar right on his chest, sending him back down even faster now. Gajeel grinned at the sight.

"Well... that takes care of-" He spoke before he was struck with Yamato.

"Nice try, Gajeel." Dakar said from behind, shocking the dragon slayer.

"How-" He was about to reply before he was punched in the face. And then Dakar fell back down. He crashed to the floor. He looked up and saw Gajeel picking up Natsu and throwing him away.

' _You stupid idiot.'_ The voice returned again in Dakar's mind.

' _Could you blame me for that?'_ He asked back and laughed. _'Besides, Natsu and Gajeel have some unfinished business.'_ He laid back and watched the battle unfold, interfering soon enough.

"Now that he's out of the way, you're all that's left, Salamander. And it looks like you have no more fight in you." He grinned at the sight of Natsu struggling to get up. He relished at the feeling of finally destroying his fellow dragon slayer.

"Y-y-you wish, Gajeel. You think I'm gonna give up easily? You haven't seen my best yet." Natsu spat, just trying to stand.

Lucy looked at Natsu in fear. _'You've lost Natsu... don't push yourself even harder than now.'_

"Look at what's happened to your sorry excuse of a guild. Just let it go. It's over."

Natsu got back up, only for Gajeel to strike him back to the wall. "Is that all you got, Salamander? Then just get on your knees already!" Natsu got back up again. Gajeel struck him with his knee. Natsu coughed up a bit of blood.

Gajeel laughed. "Just so you know, I'm not the kind of person who will simply let things like this be. Oh no no no no, that won't do. Once I'm finished with you, you best get ready to meet your maker." He resumed assaulting him.

Lucy could not take seeing Natsu helpless and in pain anymore and placed her palms over her face. _'Natsu... please... just stop..._ _let them..._ _they've won..._ _'_

It was then that Happy blurted out, "From Jupiter, to fighting one of the Elemental Four, he's used up too much of his magic! If he just had fire he's going to kick you to the curb!" This made Sagittarius realize why he was summoned in the first place. With that, he pulls back his bow.

"I think I get it now. Lucy, when you asked me if I could make fire, the obvious answer is that I can't. However, the issue is not whether I could produce it, per se, but to help generate it. That, Lucy, the action of setting something ablaze, in this case machinery..."

Gajeel was ready to finally kill Natsu. He had his sword arm at the ready. "It's been fun, Salamander! But it's time to say goodbye!"

Happy, meanwhile, yelled out to stop, to no avail.

He shot the arrow, passing through the space between Natsu and Gajeel, surprising them both.

"... is mere child's play." The arrow impacted the nearby machine, setting it on fire.

"Where the hell did that horse-man come from?!" Gajeel asked in indignation.

Natsu could only mutter out, "Fire..." His eyes quickly shot out and rushed to eat the flames.

"Nicely done Sagittarius! You're a real master archer there aren't ya!" Lucy smiled. The celestial spirit smiled back.

"It was no problem, Lucy. I must take my leave now." Lucy nodded at that, and the centaur archer disappeared in a spark of light.

"Man, I gotta say, that was good... thanks, Lucy. I owe ya one." He said to her.

"Just beat him, will ya?" She only asked him. He grinned and nodded to her.

Dakar sensed the flow of the battle shift to Natsu's favor. He smirked.

"Don't get so cocky just because you ate a few flames, Salamander! All you've done is even the playing field!" Gajeel said, rushing at him. Natsu's response was a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist to his chin. He then listed off all the friends and nakama the guild has hurt.

"For all your guild has done to us, you guys will pay for it TEN FOLD!" He struck again, this time a blow to his gut.

"IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!" Gajeel responded, sending a torrent of sharp iron.

For some reason, Natsu was able to deflect it.

' _How did he-?!'_

"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR IT THE MOST, GAJEEL!"

"Impossible... how could I be defeated at the hands of this worthless piece of trash?! I'm the mighty Gajeel! I'm invincible! I'm-"

"Just shut up already, man. Light: Single Blast Ray!" From Dakar's hands, white magic energy shot out.

"CRIMSON LOTUS: FIRE DRAGON'S FIST!"

Both waves of attacks struck Gajeel, sending him high up into the air.

"Not sure if this is payback for sending me down earlier..." Dakar spoke, with Gajeel looking up at him, grinning as he fell.

"... but it's all the same." He reared his fist back and struck him in the gut, sending him down even quicker.

With that, Gajeel was defeated. But before Natsu could react, he was sent back by a punch courtesy of Dakar.

"Sorry, Natsu, but this is still a fight, remember?" He asked. Natsu gave a grin in response.

"I think we still got some time. Besides, I'm gonna make you pay for hurting Gray."

"Alright..."

Both fighters took a stance. The only remaining spectators were Lucy and Happy, with the rest of Phantom fleeing in terror seeing their ace defeated.

"... LET'S BEGIN!"

"NO YOU WILL NOT!" Lucy intervened in anger, punching Natsu straight to the jaw, sending him to the floor. Dakar was surprised at this.

"Whoa... I better make sure not to make her angry, then." He noted, then dropped down to the floor as well. "I didn't think I'd get this tired... then again... I fought four mages today... and my Negation's time limit just ran out..."

' _Nice work, Dakar. Couldn't have handled it better than I thought. And you did well with your abilities, especially Yamato.'_ The voice spoke within again. Dakar smiled inwardly. _'Thanks... Vergil.'_

"Natsu... you just don't know when to stop, don't you?" Lucy asked with a smile.

"Well... I wanted to make sure I'd get even with Gajeel... now I really can't move now." He answered, laughing along. Happy cheered and laughed alongside him.

"I guess I haven't really introduced myself to you guys, haven't I?" Dakar called out to the trio, approaching them, Yamato now gone from his armaments.

"Yeah, now that you mentioned it. You know, you're really strong." Natsu said.

Dakar responded with a little laugh. "So I've been told. As I've said before, my name is Dakar Solonis, twenty years old, longtime mage, master of Darkness and Light Magic, obsessed with the concepts of balance between black and white, as you've noticed with my clothes. Although no one's really heard of me for some time now..." He said, the last part drooping down a bit in comical sadness.

"Hey, Dakar." Natsu called out.

"Yeah, Natsu?"

"How did you know my name?"

"Well, when you're part of a guild with that much destructive reputation as the great Salamander, it's no surprise that I know your name, ain't it? Also, hello again, Lucy."

' _Of course, there's another reason for that...'_ He secretly thought.

"Hmmm... well, you've got a point."

"Wait..." Lucy pondered his words, and then came to a shocking realization. "You... you're the one who saved me?!" His response was a smile and a nod.

"Th-th-thank you. I don't know what would've happened to me if you didn't save me that time. But... why? Why did you save me?" She asked again.

"I don't know it myself. But I can't let anyone be in danger. Not anymore. I'm just trying to help."

Natsu called out to him. "Hey... I owe ya one now, Dakar. Thanks for saving Luce."

"It was no problem, Natsu."

They then felt a surge in magic power from below. "Do you guys sense that?"

"Yeah." The three answered. "It's Master Makarov."

* * *

"Come for your family, eh, Makarov?" Jose asked him as he appeared. "Do you wish to cause destruction, old friend?"

"If it is to save my family, then I will do so." Makarov said, none too pleased with the Phantom guild master's work.

"Master..." Erza spoke, amazed at his appearance.

"Erza... even in the good condition you are in now, you should leave, along with everyone else. Leave this to me."

"But Master!" Gray said in defiance, only to be stopped by Erza.

"No... he's right. Gray, can you stand?" Erza said, tending to him, while Mira did the same with Elfman.

"If we stay here, we'll only hinder Master. We'll have to leave everything to him... even though I don't exactly like it either." Erza explained further.

"Hmph. Right now, I have no care for the weaklings you have there, Makarov, now that you're here." Jose grinned. "However, I'll make sure to slaughter them once I'm finished with you."

"You sure about that?" Everyone turned to the source of the voice.

Dakar appeared, with Lucy helping a wounded Natsu walk, along with Happy. Mira looked at him with wide eyes. She didn't think he'd appear once more.

' _It's him...'_

"You...?!" Jose spoke with shock. "You're the one who's been meddling with my plans!"

"Yeah, I was." He only said. Makarov looked at the mage with interest.

"From what I've heard, you're the one who saved Lucy, Natsu, the entire guild from Jupiter, and defeated one of the Element Four. Am I correct?" He asked.

"You're absolutely correct, old man." He nodded.

"Then I must thank you for what you've done for us. I'm grateful for you saving my family."

"It's no big deal, Makarov. I just-" He was blasted through the chest by Jose's magic. He widened his eyes.

"DAKAR!" Everyone screamed.

He coughed up blood.

"I... am getting tired of you destroying all I've planned for Phantom to win. I might as well kill you to make sure you won't do so again!" Jose frigidly said, his hand glowing with Shade Magic.

Almost immediately Mira rushed to him as he laid on the floor bleeding.

"Stay with me, Dakar, please..." She said.

"Damn... heh, I didn't expect this to happen..." He said, chuckling and coughing. He looked up at Mira. "You have beautiful hair. I think they go with your eyes well."

"Don't... don't speak too much... it'll only be worse." She said, pleading. He gave her a small smile.

"Don't worry too much, Mira. I'll live." His hand then reached up to hers. "I'll need your help, though. Can you transfer some of your magic energy to me?"

"Oh! O-o-okay..." She accepted, and their hands glowed, placed over his bleeding chest.

He then chanted, "Dark Healer Magic: Augmented Healing!" Black energy sprouted from their hands, enveloping his chest, stopping the bleeding. The end result was a torso fully covered in black magic. He smiled. "Thanks, Mira."

"Y-y-you're welcome. A-a-are you sure this will stop the wound?"

"I'm sure. Now, I think I'll go to sleep now..." With that, he closed his eyes and his consciousness faded, resting on Mira's arms.

"Dakar... thank you. Quickly, everyone, take him back to our guild. This... you've made it more personal now, Jose. I didn't think you'd actually attempt to kill someone..." Makarov instructed, turning to Jose.

"What do you expect, old friend? He's nothing but an annoyance to my plans. He's also too powerful for me to stop in the future, so why not take him out now?"

Everyone did as told, with Natsu and Mira carrying Dakar. Once they got outside, they were met by another mage.

"Dakar! Is he okay?" Juvia asked as they continued moving.

"Aren't you one of the Element Four?" Lucy asked.

"Don't worry about that, Lucy. We fought earlier along with Dakar, and I think it's safe to say she'll be on our side from now on." Gray explained.

"Hai, Juvia has seen the errors of her ways. Juvia took time to reflect and ponder on both Dakar and your words, along with Juvia's actions as a member of Phantom. And I realized how wrong I have been." She said, bowing down in apology.

"It's alright, Juvia. Just come with us if you want to." Erza said. Juvia gratefully did.

As they all retreated to the destroyed ruins of the guild, the two mages gently laid Dakar down, with Mira and Juvia staying to watch him over. It isn't long before the two were joined by a certain card mage.

"Is that... Dakar?" Cana asked. The two nodded.

"What... what happened to him?!"

"He was shot by Jose." Mira answered. This angered Cana.

"Why that bastard... let me at him! I'm gonna kick his ass for trying to kill someone! I'll use my most dangerous cards!" She raged, only being restrained by Juvia.

"Cana, it's alright. Dakar said he'll be fine. And we have to leave things to Master. I'm sure he'll be able to handle Jose on his own. I only hope he'll be fine, but we have no choice but to trust him."

All the while, from within Dakar's body, Vergil has been watching the entire events unfold before him. He began to mull over.

' _Hmmm... this idiot has helped me see how wrong I was in following my mantra. True, might will protect everything, but unless you have compassion and kindness, then that might will all be for naught. I realize now that you need people to always be there for you, to form bonds... to keep friendship.'_

' _Dante... I'm sorry for everything that has happened between us that pushed us away to opposite sides. I understand now why you want to protect humanity. Even though humans can be foolish, they... prove to be better than even some higher-class races. I only hope you forgive me.'_

' _Now... if only this idiot could wake up...'_ The half-devil chuckled. _'He's gonna have a big surprise waiting ahead of him... though I wouldn't call it far-fetched to say he doesn't deserve it. After everything that's happened... he needs the companionship. Then again... he could be dense... ugh, like that stupid blonde orange-wearing ninja... I certainly hope not...'_ He sighed, but chuckled and smiled.

It was almost a few hours later that he woke up, in the afternoon, almost night actually, the dark energy enveloping around his torso gone. And he was greeted with the sight of three beautiful sleeping women around him. He widened his eyes at that.

' _The hell?!'_ He thought.

"Ahhh, you're awake now." He turned to see who was speaking with him.

"Oh, Makarov. I'm guessing you finished off Jose. No, not kill of course, but, well, defeated him. And the war's over, isn't it?"

"To answer your question, I have, with Fairy Law. Had you been involved before I knew who you were, you would've been felled too. And yes, the war has ended."

"I don't think so, Master. Can I call you that?" The guild master nodded.

"What do you mean by that, Dakar?"

"Well, I just know I won't be affected by it, and I'm not just saying that because I have Negation, but it's definitely a big part of that."

Makarov took a long look at the darkness and light master. _'This person... I feel he's going to change this guild a lot. Not just in making it more powerful, though that's merely an added bonus, but in some of the guild's members too.'_

"This leads me to the question, Dakar." The mage's attention was now fully focused on the elder master.

"Would you like to join my guild?"

His response was a smirk. "Of course, Master. So long as you also have Juvia and Gajeel join as well." This earned a questioning look from the master.

"Hm? Juvia I understand, but why Gajeel?"

"Trust me when I say I'm a good judge of character, even though our only interaction was when we fought earlier. He's needing more than what he had at Phantom. But while I am a good judge, I can't exactly pinpoint him out. Still, I recommend you talk to him. I can sense a good heart behind all that jerkass attitude he has. And what do you mean about Juvia?"

"I can see it in your eyes. You've taken a liking to her, haven't you? An enemy mage at that. And with the other two girls as well. I certainly did not expect this at all from you, a newcomer too, but my advice is to take care of these girls."

He immensely blushed at that. "W-w-what the hell have you been eating, old man?! I certainly haven't taken a liking to them yet!"

"Ah ah ah, you said _yet_! That means eventually you will fall in love with them! To think you'd have a harem soon enough! I'll be proud of you!" He said back, laughing along.

"Hmph, perverted old master." He grumbled.

"When Mira wakes up, I'll be sure to tell her about the three of you joining." He then soon walked away.

"Wait! Master, what should I do here?! I'm helpless!"

"That, Dakar, is something you'll have to find out for yourself. Hahahahahaha!" He merrily left him to his problem.

"Damn this... damn everything..."

"Dakar... oh, oh oh yes please... more..." Juvia moaned, holding onto his left arm. He blushed even more. And even Vergil was laughing inside. Dakar sighed.

' _Might as well go_ _back_ _to sleep.'_ The way he figured, leaving these three beauties asleep as he tried to escape would be hard, and the risk of waking up is too much. While this would be a situation almost eighty percent of males would almost always like, Dakar is not going to take any of this shit. He decided to just let them do whatever they want, trying to make the best of the situation as he slept.

Tomorrow's gonna be a long day...

At the very least, he can take in the knowledge and happiness that he's now a member of Fairy Tail. And now everything is about to change.

 **Arc 1 - END**

* * *

 **AN: And that's the end of the introductory arc. I hope you all had the patience to wait. I'm really sorry for not updating sooner.**

 **I have not had a good March in the beginning. I've had a few problems here and there. I thought I almost lost my friendship with one of my best friends, leading me to a little bit of self-punishment and some depression (sigh... I think I'm mostly self-pessimistic to a fault.), but it's all good now. Not to mention, I think Research almost killed me there. But at the very least, I'm done with it, and I think I aced my exams for this final quarter. The school year's ended, and I can now focus more on writing my stories.**

 **Now, onto the story proper. I think I've done the complete plot line of the entire story, and I think I've determined who'll be in the harem. I won't bother much with non-main pairings, as I can't really do good writing with multiple character pairings at once. So for that, I'll only focus on Dakar and his harem. And he's now a member of Fairy Tail! Yay! One could only wonder what will be the impact he has to his newfound guildmates.**

 **Now, I'm also having thoughts about writing a story on High School DxD, OC-centric, as usual, but with so much of my focus on my two main projects, it's going to be tougher to include this too, considering the fact that I also have been thinking about making a Naruto story too. Ugh, damn it, it isn't easy when you have so many ideas and can't work on most of them without abandoning some others.**

 **Anyways, make sure to review. If you have any suggestions regarding the story and harem, I'll be happy to listen. These kinds of feedback always help out a writer.**

 **Next up, the Tower of Heaven! What would be Dakar's involvement in this, and what would be his first meeting with Jellal be like?**

 **Until then.**


	7. The Week After and The Tower

A week had passed since Fairy Tail's war with Phantom Lord. It hadn't been easy for any of them. Almost a few hours since the day after the night guild master Makarov conversed with darkness and light master Dakar, the Rune Knights, courtesy of the Magic Council, who's always been wary of Fairy Tail's rather destructive reputation and were considered slight, if not moderately, annoyances to them, rounded them up and interrogated them concerning the very situation they were in. Dakar kept to himself every time they would interrogate him, answering some questions he felt alright to answer properly, and leaving other questions with intentionally, yet subtly vague answers.

The council's decision regarding the incident would be revealed to the guild today.

"I gotta ask, does this happen a lot, considering the guild's destructive reputation?" Dakar asked. He was talking to Gray as they rested, having helped out the rebuilding of the guild hall. However, even then, he was still helping out as he used his magic to assist the others.

"Well... not really, but there are moments where we do tend to be... out of control when it comes to property damage." Gray explained.

Dakar laughed. "Well I'd rather prefer less of that, but I think this is the guild I want to be in."

Natsu saw them as he carried a lot of wood, sending an angry glare at Gray.

"You trying to take a break ice princess?!"

"Yeah? What does it matter to you flame brain?"

"Well I think I can carry more of these than you!"

"Oh give me a break Natsu! I can carry twice as much as you!" Gray did so. But as both were trying to top one another, the logs they were both carrying proved to be too much for them, and promptly crushed them underneath. Dakar laughed lightly.

"Sorry guys, but I win this one." He said, using his magic to create arms to carry all the logs they were carrying until they fell on them. Both of them were surprised. Juvia, hiding somewhere, clapped and cheered in jubilation for him.

"Hey that's unfair!" Natsu exclaimed.

"What, that I can't use my magic? Nope, I don't see anything in any rulebook stating that." He stood up and continued to let his magic carry the logs.

"Wait, aren't you just gonna get tired from using your magic so much?" Gray asked.

"Nah, I'm not too tired yet." He answered. He then split the amount of wood between the three. "Come on you guys. Let's keep going." He carefully placed the wood on both their shoulders, both mages readying themselves for the work they're continuing to do.

"You guys really should follow his ethic sometimes. At least he doesn't play around." Erza said, appearing as she carried the wood. She was wearing clothes suitable for the work they're doing.

At that, both deflated. "Yes Erza..."

Dakar laughed again. "Don't sweat it, you guys." The four then continued their work.

"Erza sure is dedicated. And while you don't see it in his expression and laid-back demeanor, Dakar is pretty dedicated too." Max noted.

"So is Master!" Mira said. Looking at Makarov, he used his magic to also work, as his real size isn't obviously going to help.

"Yo, Dakar." Someone called out to him. He looked back and saw Cana.

"Oh, hey Cana. Wait... you're not drunk are you?" He said. She laughed and shook her head.

"Nah, not this time. I also have to help out the guild, and I can't do that while I'm drunk. I've been using my card magic to properly set up most of the foundation and skeleton of the entire building, along with Levy's solid script magic."

"Well that's good." He noted.

"So... how's your body's condition? I know it's been a week since the end of the war, but no one recovers from that kind of wound so quickly. And yet... it looks like you're doing great." She ran her hand over his chest, and she was impressed to say the least.

"Well, that wound's all gone. Over the course of the week it did heal up. Actually by the fourth day there was nothing left to show that it was actually there. But thanks for the concern, Cana. I appreciate it." He smiled, which made her cheeks glow just a bit more pinkish from before.

"It's... it's no problem. After all, you did help us, even though I still don't exactly know why you did help us."

"As I've said before, I wanted to join the guild. Apparently I got there both at the nick of time and at a bad time. But hey, it's over now. Say, can you use your magic to put these together?" He asked.

She smirked. "For something like this? That's almost too easy." She threw a card over at the intended part, and the card glowed and exploded, leaving the frame stuck together properly. He smiled.

"Awesome. Thanks, Cana."

"No problem, Dakar."

After helping out the guild rebuilding the hall, Dakar was about to leave them to their work, when he noticed something off.

' _That's strange. Where's Lucy?'_ He thought. After a few seconds, he had a realization. _'Of course. She would go there to settle everything.'_

He quickly left before anyone else could notice. It was almost sunset.

* * *

After finally saying goodbye to her father, effectively cutting off her ties with him (temporarily), Lucy left the estate, heading to the grave of her mother.

To her surprise, she found Dakar there, staring down at her mother's grave.

"Dakar?" She called out.

He turned to her and waved. Confused, the celestial mage walked up to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I knew you'd be here. After everything that's happened with Phantom, and knowing that your father was involved, I kinda guessed it faster than most. And...you can say I've been here before." He turned back to Layla's grave. "What was your mother like?" He asked. He could see her looking down at the grave, the sorrow evident.

"Like the greatest mother I could ever had." That was what she said. And that was all that he needed to hear. For a while, the only sound that can be heard by the two was Lucy's muffled crying.

"Your mother would be proud of you for being the mage you are today." He encouragingly said. She wiped those tears away and smiled, looking back up to him.

"How would you know that? Not that I'm minding, but I'm just curious. You're only a few years older than me, right? She never said anything about meeting someone like you when she was alive." She asked.

He scratched the back of his head, smiling and looking back up. "Well...you could say that I kinda know her. Not that much, but enough to believe she'd be really proud of you if she saw you today."

Not long after, they heard the rest of her team call the two of them. They all went back, smiling, laughing, and sharing stories all throughout. Dakar knew he'd fit in just right with the guild.

"What's the mission, Erza?" Dakar asked as Erza walked over to the rest of their group. The next day, most of the guild went on missions, to help support the rebuilding of the main hall, including Team Natsu.

"Should be simple enough. We're to do a package delivery. We'll be out in about two hours. Sound good?" Erza inquired.

"Hell yeah! I've been itching for a mission for quite some time now!" Natsu said, standing up.

"Seems important if the request needed a full team of five." Lucy noted.

"Yeah. Though hopefully it ain't gonna be something similar to that Lullaby request. I've had enough of those already." Gray said.

"Lullaby? What happened there?" Dakar asked. While he has heard about this incident in his notes about the guild, he still wants to hear the entire story from their view. The others then told him about what happened that time when they stopped the guild Eisenwald from making their objective a reality.

"Wow, close call." He said.

"Yeah. But not like something we couldn't handle. We're Fairy Tail!" Natsu confidently said.

"Don't say that too often, you lump of light bulbs. That might just get us killed." Gray warned.

"Eh, come on, you melted wad of snow, you gotta have some more faith in our guild." Natsu said. Neither took the other's insults to heart, Dakar noted to himself.

"True, but remember, we only won because of Dakar's timely arrival. That, and Master's Fairy Law. If not for either, who knows what could've happen when we fought against Phantom." Erza said.

Natsu abruptly deflated after that, realizing the truth of the Requip Mage's words, dipping his head down in shame. But as soon as he did, he just turned back into his usual self, laughing and grinning. "Alright, so we had help. But we all did our part together in ending that guild. And with our newest member, we'll just be even stronger! Hey Dakar!" He turned to the mage in question.

"Yeah Natsu?"

"Let's fight sometime!"

Dakar chuckled. "I guess. But you better be prepared. Fighting me is not gonna be easy." He warned.

"You know it, man! I'm gonna beat you!" He said. Everyone else just confusedly stared not only at Natsu's usual attitude, but also at Dakar's nonchalance. Still, they had an hour to spare, so everyone prepared.

Dakar's method of preparation was to simply meditate. He oftentimes just deeply thinks into his mind, calming himself and easing the strain on his body. That, and to also give a place for him and Vergil to converse. He sat down, cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

" _What do you think so far?"_ He asked the half-devil.

" _It's proving to be hugely positive for you. It feels much better for you to be surrounded by people again. And I mean the kind that you can trust."_ Vergil responded.

" _It does feel that way. I feel a bit more at ease with them. Fairy Tail just seems to be like home."_

" _It's good to hear that. Now, what do you-"_ Vergil's words were interrupted when Dakar heard footsteps that were directed towards him.

" _Maybe next time, Vergil. Looks like someone wants to talk to me."_

" _Heh. Don't fail."_

Confused over his companion's last words, he opened his eyes to see the guild's lovely barmaid, Mirajane, sitting in front of him.

"Well, hello, dear Mirajane." He said, smiling at her.

She greeted back with a giggle. "Hello to you as well, Dakar."

"How have you been this past week?" He curtly asked.

"Oh things have been alright for me. The question is, are you?"

Dakar offered a smirk in response. "Of course I am. Getting a magical beam shot through my stomach has not been the worst thing that's happened to me, you know. I've survived much worse things than that."

"Really, now?" She said, giving a smirk of her own. "You intrigue me. You're a mystery. On the brink of possibly losing to Phantom, and you appear, seemingly out of nowhere, to help us comeback and win against them, and then you join our guild. Doesn't that all seem a little bit too much of a coincidence to me?"

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. I really was just at the right place at the right time. Of course I wanted to join, but seeing as how you guys may have needed help, I wanted to step in and assist. Like killing two birds with one stone, right? I proved part of my worth, and I saved you guys from being disbanded." He paused. "I can only wonder why you stopped."

"Hm?" She was confused. "Stopped what?"

"Stopped fighting. Once one of the strongest mages of the guild, and now you're the barmaid." At his words, her smirk dropped.

"That's none of your business." She coldly warned.

"I didn't mean to offend you, Mira." He said. "But...I sense so much power. There's so much that it almost scares me. Almost."

"And why aren't you?"

"The level of power doesn't faze me. Anyone can be beaten regardless of power. I think it's well explained that Natsu is the epitome of that statement." He explained, causing both to chuckle.

"That's certainly true. Our Natsu has the heart to keep fighting, even when the enemy's stronger than him or when the odds are stacked. But the way you said that...it seems as though you have a death wish." She said.

"Things can...get tiring sometimes. That's all I can say." He said, turning away from her. She stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sorry for being so defensive about that against you. It's been so long..." She said.

"So long since what?"

"Lisanna. My sister. She was the reason why I've stopped fighting and why I've become who I am now." She further explained.

This came off as a surprise to him. He didn't think she'd mention this so quickly. "Would you want to tell me more? Maybe it can be able to ease your heart from the pain."

To this Mirajane shook her head. "It's not gonna make it easier for me to move on from the fact, but I guess opening it up to you will help just a bit."

"I've got a lot of time anyway." The two moved to the counter of the bar, where she then went on to explain that part of her life story to him.

When she finished, the man was in grief for her. "My deepest condolences for your sister. "

"It's alright. I think this whole thing changed me for the better. I regret not being able to save her, but if she were to see me now...she'd be proud."

He smiled. "I'm sure she would." They would continue to converse about other subjects, from Mira's powers to his own, and where he got his weapons.

"Dakar!" They heard a male voice call out to him. They turned to see Natsu. "Time for us to go! We've got a mission, remember?"

"Ah, right." He turned to Mirajane, confused. "Has it really been two hours?"

She giggled in response. "Yeah. The time flew by so fast. Oh, and before you go, I really do want to hear the story of how you got the sword, Yamato. The weapon and its owner (and his brother) has been thought to be just a myth for centuries!"

"It's a grand tale, that's for sure." He said as he walked away.

* * *

(1 week later...)

"I go to sleep for just a few hours, and it all went to chaos. My life seems to be more chaotic one way or another." Dakar sighed as he knelt down at Lucy's side, freeing the magic-sealing binds. He helped her stand, and he surveyed the damage wrought onto the main area of Akane Resort's building. The two walked into another destroyed room, where they saw Natsu and Gray downed. Happy and Erza were nowhere to be seen.

He turned to the blonde Celetial Spirit Mage as they approached Gray. "Lucy, what the hell happened while I was out?" He asked.

"We were attacked. There were...four of them, and they all claimed to know Erza as their sister. They came to get her back for some reason, said that they came to take her home. And they took Happy for the cat-girl. I don't know about the others. And they also said something about a 'Tower of Heaven.' Erza just told me to stay out of this, that she'll handle it on her own." Lucy explained.

' _The Tower of Heaven?!'_ Both Dakar and Vergil thought in shock. _'Oh no. There's nothing good coming out of it if they plan to use it.'_

He then saw Gray knocked out, but before he could even touch the unconscious ice mage, it turned to ice. He quickly pulled his hand away in surprise. Lucy shrieked.

' _An ice clone...if that's the case, where is the real Gray?'_ He asked himself.

"You have no need to worry." The two mages heard a woman's voice call out. They turned to see water forming on the floor, and it rose to form into Juvia.

"Juvia..." Dakar said.

"W-wait. Isn't she an enemy, since she's one of the Element 4?" Lucy asked, wary.

"As she said, there's no need to worry." From underneath, Gray appeared. "She's now an ally of ours."

"Using your water composition to keep someone in from being hurt...nice save, Juvia." Dakar complimented, noting the strategic mindset she had. The water mage smiled. "Thank you." The two mages then stood up...

...Just as Natsu woke up in a seething rage, blowing out fire.

"THAT BASTARD'S GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" He yelled. The other four turned turned to him in surprise. They quickly came to his side. They noticed his mouth still emitting smoke, which was unusual for that to happen, since his fires don't bellow smoke once the magic attack is complete.

"Good, you're awake too, Natsu. That means we can finally chase them down." Dakar said, looking out the main exit.

"We need to go. _Now_." He said with an air of urgency as he ran off. The others hurriedly followed, but not before alerting the authorities to what happened.

* * *

"Dear gods, this isn't good. I know the Tower of Heaven, and the fact that it's up and possibly running is never good." Dakar said, his hands on his head. "The use of this tower was never for good. It couldn't ever be used for good."

On the boat, everyone else had finished explaining their side of the events that happened in the resort, as Dakar took this all in, and dread filled his whole body.

Natsu had nearly reined in his seasickness during the trip. "What is it about this Tower of Heaven that's scary?" Natsu asked before he felt his stomach act up again and his eyes widened and covered his mouth. Dakar cringed.

Dakar knew that none of them had an inkling about what the Tower was in full, so he decided to give them a heads-up. "As you all know, there's always been religious fanatics in this world. They're insane individuals, believing that they could actually summon or revive mythical and godlike beings. They could be Dark Mages, or they could be just normal people. It's those same individuals that began the creation of the Tower of Heaven.

Initially, the Tower of Heaven is known as the Resurrection-System. It is as the title says that it can revive someone from the dead by using a spell. Of course, the catch is a life for a life, which meant that someone else has to die in order to resurrect the dead person. Or it could be many, depending on the strength of the deceased individual. The fact that it could take more than one living person to resurrect someone...you all know where that goes."

They shuddered at the thought of it. They all knew that what was dead is supposed to stay dead. And that it would be a perversion of the order of life and death, taking that many people to revive just one person.

He continued, "Now, back to those fanatics, there was a cult of Dark Mages who were deeply obsessive of their fanaticism and wished to revive a certain wizard. The person they wished to revive was one of the most feared Dark Mages of history, able to use Death Magic at his disposal, or at least I think he can control it, based on stories I've heard of him. That man was Zeref."

The shock on their faces confirmed their awareness of the man. At least they knew about him, even if it's a little.

"So, with their ambition set in stone, they began the construction of the Tower of Heaven, kidnapping children and adults alike to become their slaves in building the tower and their sacrifice, including one Erza Scarlet."

"No way..." Lucy gasped.

"Then does this mean...those people who kidnapped her...were they...?" Gray trailed.

Dakar nodded. "Yes. It would seem that the people who kidnapped her were slaves as well, and likely, or, as you have already known from Erza herself, they're also her friends from that childhood, changed from their experience and suffering."

"Rebellion wouldn't be tolerated, of course. Anyone who rebelled or tried to escape would disappear for strange reasons. I've not heard much of it in a long time. To hear that it's about to be used now, it means that it's finished being built."

"How do you know all of this, Dakar?" Juvia asked.

The man paused, turning to his bluenette close friend. "I...I can't tell you that. At least...not yet. It's not yet time."

Juvia could only give a sympathetic look at him and embraced him.

' _Of course, those same dark mages, and whoever is trying to use the R-System now, don't know the real truth about Zeref and this tower. Fools.'_ He thought.

He just smiled as he ran his hands down her back. "Thanks, Juvia."

"If whoever is planning this has the same intentions as before to revive Zeref, then the implications of the attempt would be worse than reviving someone else." He finished explaining. "It's tantamount that, aside from saving Erza, we _must_ destroy this tower or at least render it completely unusable."

They all nodded at his words.

Natsu had recovered from his seasickness but only because of the negative aura he was sensing. "Guys, look around." He instructed.

The birds were dropping like flies. On the seas were dead fish and ship wreckage. This malevolent aura was getting to most of them, and they found out why in a few.

The Tower of Heaven was in their sights.

Lucy shivered as she could feel the dread coming from the island. Juvia only embraced Dakar harder, slightly afraid. Gray narrowed his eyes, himself not feeling too good from the aura the island was giving off, but he pushed that aside in favor of determination and slight anger.

Minutes later they docked the boat on the shores and stepped foot on the ground. They all then turned to Dakar.

"What, I'm gonna lead you guys in this one?" He asked, receiving nods from all three. He shrugged. "Alright. Fine by me. But we'll need to find a way to get inside without being noticed at least."

Meanwhile, Jellal was watching from the top as the pieces on the board stood, while a disciple stood across him, watching him. He grinned in an evil manner behind the hood.

"They're all here. Now we can finally begin."

* * *

Our five heroes found themselves swimming their way inside the island's defenses, hoping at least they wouldn't be found while doing so.

Juvia brilliantly came up with the idea of forming water spheres filled with oxygen for Natsu, Lucy, and Gray to use. Dakar meanwhile had simply swam without it.

"Right. Now we're in." Dakar and the others had swam up onto land, where unfortunately they were found.

"Hey! Who are you people?!" One such guard said, as many of them came charging in.

He sighed and then turned to the others. "Let's get this done. We need to find Erza." The others nodded.

Dakar leaped and brandished Yamato, slashing and slicing through them with ease. As he sheathed the sword, they all fell forward, the motions made visible like white flashes. As more of them approached, he took a stance, unsheathed his sword and, with lightspeed, made the same motions as before, only much, _much_ faster, and then sheathed it back. On a certain spot the reinforcements were charging through, they were then overwhelmed with the sudden force that appeared, cutting them and blowing them away into the water below.

Gray had been making different weapons to deal with them. From swords to lances to even cannons, he had been raking in the weapons to take them out. Even when it looked like more were coming, he didn't let up. Instead he just kept on being more and more creative in ways to beat them down.

Natsu, being Natsu, just blew them away with his fire attacks, breathing fire and blasting them from his hands. It was the way he's always done it, and he's not stopping to change that.

Juvia was unfazed as they tried to fire their guns at her. With her ability to shape herself into water, she was practically untouchable and impervious to damage. The defenders looked in bewilderment as their attacks were useless, which gave her the opening she needed to attack with her Water Slicer. With her mastery over water, she also used the wide depths to blast them away with rising waves.

As for Lucy, she summoned Virgo and ordered her to take care of them. Heeding her master's command, with her powers, she leveled the field, throwing them off the ledges and into the water.

For the next few minutes, they just kept on taking the reinforcements down, until there had been no more left.

Natsu wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Phew! That was quite the exercise."

"I'll say. I'm definitely warmed up more for a fight now." Gray grinned.

Dakar just shrugged. Lucy shook her head. Juvia nodded. Then they saw a door open and a ramp being lowered.

"The heck? What's this on about?" Natsu looked at the ramp, confused.

"They know we're here. They want us to play along in this." Dakar answered. "We'll just have to go with it for now."

"How will we save Erza-san?" Juvia asked.

"I don't know yet. We'll just have to get up top to find out. Of course, we've also got to find Happy, and maybe those four who took Erza. I think if we get up top, we'll know who's behind all of this." He replied. He took point. "Let's get to it. Can't waste any more time now." The others followed.

"You're just...letting them pass, Jellal?" The disciple on the throne room asked the man sitting in front of him as they watched them run up the ramp and into the next area.

The blue-haired man grinned. "It's all a means to an end, and they're part of the puzzle, Vidaldas." He placed a hand under his chin, his amusement showing. "My plan is working smoothly as it should be."

"Erza should be free by now. I'll face her when she shows. She'll finally understand everything that's been building to this end. With her sacrifice, I can finally bring Zeref back to the land of the living!"

"I will call for you to summon them when it is time, Vidaldus."

"Of course, Jellal." The navy-haired disciple left the throne room.

* * *

Natsu was eating ravenously at the table in the next room, as Dakar, Juvia, and Gray ate at their normal pace.

"Are we sure it's alright just...eating here?" Lucy asked as she was changed into a new set of clothes.

"Not like we'll stay for long. You should eat up too, Lucy. We're all gonna need the strength." Dakar suggested.

"He's right, princess." Virgo added. "You have not eaten since Akane, and that was a few hours ago."

Seeing as she's alone in this, Lucy just sat beside them and took her helpings of food. "Would you pass me the sandwiches, please?"

"Sure thing, Lucy." Natsu gave the plate to the blonde mage.

"So, mind telling us more about yourself, Dakar?" Gray asked.

"What did you have in mind?" The grey-eyed mage asked back.

"Well, yourself, really. You have a girlfriend? Anyone special in your life before joining us?"

"Oh. That. Well..." Dakar scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ah, yes. Juvia would also want to know if...I'm intruding your personal life." The bluenette said. Secretly, she had forgotten about that aspect in his life, and if it turned out he diiuud have a girlfriend, it would shame her for advancing on someone who was already taken.

Dakar sighed. "Well, I can't exactly lie to any of you guys. I did have a girlfriend."

Juvia's shoulders slumped, but he wasn't finished. "She...she died. It was just a few years ago when I lost her. We were attacked on our journey, and while I made it out, her wounds were too severe for her to recover. I haven't been in a relationship since then."

All of them stopped eating, even Natsu.

"So you were in love before." Lucy was the first to speak.

He nodded. "Yeah. Saphina...she was my best friend. Always there for me. Clumsy girl, drank sometimes, but I loved her regardless. She could do wonders with her magic."

"What magic did she have?" Natsu asked.

"She had two of them. She was a master at card magic. Her other magic is her healing magic, and in extension to that, an empathic aura. She could detect the emotions of those in close proximity to her and could be able to either heighten those emotions or calm them. It's both an aid and a weapon to her arsenal. From her, I was taught healing magic, but with my own twist to it. The dark energies I used on my body when I was blasted whole by Jose was that. I could always use my own energy to heal, but I could use the magical energies of others to amplify it. Like what I did with Mira. It wouldn't harm her in any way so long as I keep myself from getting hurt that is."

 _'Now that I think about it...Cana...she looked so much like my Saphina...'_ He paused to think. _'Just a coincidence, I guess.'_

"I'd always be grateful to Saphina for just...being there. Teaching me, journeying with me. I was obviously devastated when she died in my arms, but now, years later, I could always find her in my memories." He finished with a smile.

These moments shared were soon interrupted when they heard the sound of, "Intruders! There they are!"

The mages stood up, ready to fight, until Erza came charging through those men like a battering ram.

"Erza!" Gray called out.

She turned to see them, surprised. "Wha-what are you doing here?!"

"We came here to get you!" Lucy answered.

"No, you have to leave, now!" Erza roared back. "This is a place you shouldn't have come to!"

The others were taken aback. "We can't just do that! If we do, then that would mean leaving you here, and we can't allow you to do this yourself!" Natsu said, smashing his fists together. "Not to mention, Happy was also kidnapped! I'm not leaving without him either! And I'm not gonna just let that blockhead run off like that taking him!"

"Happy's also been taken? That's...no, Millianna..." Erza bit back her surprise at the mention of Happy being kidnapped.

"I'm coming to get him!" Natsu charged through Erza, running through the open door where she came from.

"Wait, Natsu!" Dakar called out.

"Idiot..." Gray shook his head at his friend's actions.

"We can't just let Natsu run off his own! We're going!" Lucy said, only to be blocked by Erza's sword.

"I'll take responsibility of getting them both back. Now you all have to get as far away from this place as possible." She turned and was about to head off towards Natsu's direction.

"Not without you, Erza!" Lucy pleaded.

Erza heatedly responded back, "This is my problem and my problem alone! I don't want that you all get involved in this. So please, turn back and run."

"Erza." Dakar called out. "This is your problem as much as it is ours. I know what this place is. I already told them about it...and a bit of you, and why we're really here."

That shook the redhead's focus. She turned back. "How do you know about the Tower?" She raised her sword against his neck. "Why do you know? How could you have possibly known me and my companions' suffering?! Who are you, Dakar?!"

He stifled a chuckle before gently lowering the sword. "Before joining Fairy Tail two weeks ago? A wandering mage, who had once found the Tower and tried to destroy it by himself to no avail. To think years later I would find the only living survivor of the Tower of Heaven who escaped from captivity, which only meant that my job isn't over."

He sighed, pausing himself before continuing. "All your companions still have a chance at a new life. Like you have now. You gained new companions over the years. You still have a chance. We'll always be here for you, Erza. We'll fight with you to the very end. And at the end of today...we'll make sure you're never alone anymore, and that you're still here with us."

Erza looked at him heatedly, before her eyes softened. "Alright. I suppose I shall tell you everything while I'm still here in this world. You told them the basic information about this Tower, I assume?"

He nodded. "It's still best to hear the whole thing from you, however."

The caring looks on her friends' faces made it easier for her to tell her story.


End file.
